Merry Christmas! Drawings, events, dinners, parties, and Christmas cards in the mail; it must be about time for Christmas! There seem to be two ways to enjoy an auction: Having a need and getting right in the thick of the bidding, or having no need of anything at the auction and just watching and meeting people. This was a farm equipment auction and my yard really doesn't need a big (or even a little) John Deere farm tractor. A combine or swather would be just ridiculous on my little suburban plot... and expensive! I talked to an old friend at the sale and to get into a new combine harvester with some heads would be around $450,000 or more these days, ye ouche! The weather sent a little snow for the sale too; that should help some of the bidders get into the Christmas spirit! I did take a few photos of the creek and some of the stuff for sale, the folks there looked a lot like the day... gray and brown clothing all around. A cold, cloudy day doesn't seem to bring out many bright colors. Christmas brings out the bright colors; some of them are in my random thoughts this morning. Must be due to the late bedtime last night.
At our Bible study for this week, the pastor asked us what new insight we may have discovered in reading the Christmas stories this year. That is an interesting question. Although we can almost quote the Bible verses of the Christmas story, the point of reading verses from the Bible more than once is to gain new insights as we grow in Christ. If you were raised going to a Christian church, you probably have heard so many sermons and carols of Christmas that you may not expect anything knew, as the pastor also pointed out to us last night. But the Christmas story is very much about something new; so where do we look for this new thing each year? The Holy Spirit would seem to be a good one to start with. As the Spirit grows us and reminds us of scripture, we are going to find new insights in the reading of the Christmas stories.
Your new insight, and there is no guarantee that we will get one each year, may be different from mine, or they might be the same. The Spirit keeps his own counsel on who is ready for what insight. This is not unfair or that one of us is behind in our learning. I always figure that if I have an "oh ho!" moment when reading a scripture that I have read many times before it was simply God's timing at work, not that I had to read the passage a certain number of times. God through His Holy Spirit has been compared to the master craftsman always making sure that his work is put into the fire for just the right amount of time under just the right heat to drive out the impurities. We don't get a pass on the trials at Christmas time either. Some may face their most difficult trials of the year at Christmas. Doesn't God want us to celebrate the birth of His Son? Of course, but we should remember a couple of things: We should thank God for the trials we go through with Him, holding on to the joy and peace that He gives, and that the big celebration is not here on this earth!
I don't know if we will observe Christmas in Heaven, but I certainly hope so! Maybe Heaven is like the best Christmas all of the time. Have a wonderful Christmas season as the day draws close!
Bucky
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