Monday, December 18, 2006
Right after Thanksgiving, I made my annual pilgrimage to the Christmas corner of our garage, and I brought out Christmas. We've been accumulating ornaments and decorations for many years now, and it's always a big deal for the family when they make their annual re-entry - all those decorations. The house is alive with Christmas now - for a while. But before very long, I will reverse the exercise, repack everything in their aging boxes, and put them back in storage for another year.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Packing up Christmas."
We unpack Christmas when we want it and we put Christmas away when we don't want it. You can do that with Christmas. You can't do that with Christ, although a lot of people try to. We haul out Jesus when we'd like to have Him be a part of things: on Sundays, for Christmas, when we're in a jam, when we want to be religious. But, to be honest, we keep Him largely at the edges of our life, mostly in our head - not really in our heart.
You just can't do it that way. That's clear even from the angels' birth announcement that first Christmas. It's recorded in Luke 2:10-11, our word for today from the Word of God. "The angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.'"
You and I don't get to decide how we relate to the Son of God. He has announced the terms of having Him in your life. First, He is the Savior. Today, we call it a rescuer - like those brave police and firefighters who went right into the holocaust at Ground Zero to bring people out. When the World Trade Towers collapsed, the only hope of people trapped in the rubble was a rescuer. Often we don't realize that our spiritual situation is just that deadly.
The Bible says we're trapped in the rubble of our choice to run our life our way instead of God's way. This rebellion against our Creator cannot be redeemed by any religion in the world; only by Jesus, the only Rescuer God ever sent to pay for our sins with His life. Sin's death penalty can only be paid by someone dying, and Jesus did so you don't have to. But you have to grab Him with all the faith you've got like a dying person would grab a rescuer.
The angels also announced that Jesus was "Christ the Lord." Now, that word means He's the One who controls everything. Maybe you've been trying to have Jesus be a passenger in your life - a life that you're driving. No deal. He's Christ the Lord. He doesn't ride, He drives. And maybe today is your day to finally move out of the driver's seat and turn it over to the One it was made for in the first place.
I'm praying that this Christmas may be for someone who's listening right now your first real Christmas - your first Christmas with Christ in your heart. Not just in your head, but in your heart. Not just on the edges, but in the center of your life. If you want to belong to this Jesus, who loves you so much, tell Him right now, "Jesus, I'm Yours from this moment on. You came here to pay for people's sin, and I have sin that needed to be paid for. Thank You for paying the price in my place. I want to belong to You today and forever."
I want to invite you to visit our website today, as soon as you can, and check it out there because I tried to put in as simple a way as I could the way for you to be sure you've begun your relationship with Jesus. It's yoursforlife.net. Or you can call for my booklet. You can get it by calling us at 877-741-1200.
You've known a lot about Jesus. Beginning this very day, you can finally know Jesus, for real. This can be your personal Jesus-day.