Taking Another Look

I encourage you to take another look at the Biblical Christmas story this year. Focus on the story of Christ: its basics, its intricacies, its wonder, and focus on the glory of Christ in the story of Christ. See and celebrate His greatness and goodness.

Why take the time to do this? Christmas in our culture gets overly familiar, like a ride at an amusement park you’ve ridden since you were younger. You stand in line waiting, you get on, you ride to the end and you’re done until next time you go through the process all over again. We are surrounded right now with lots of Christmassy things; happens like clockwork; the day after Thanksgiving: stores selling, songs playing, decorations hanging; we are busy with list making, party going, food eating. These are all things that are not bad in and of themselves; but can tend to cloud the real significance of Christmas that by the way nowhere is commanded to be observed only once a year but meant to shape the entire life of those who believe. Its like in Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" where the white witch made it always winter and never Christmas; it’s meant to be Christmas always and never business as usual.

Why look closely at the Biblical account of Christ's birth? So we’d be impacted, changed, strengthened in our thinking and our living. That we would see, know and comprehend that there are significant implications in to our belief as well as our behavior. It is meant for our up-building, our transformation; our growth in salvation and sanctification. Being transformed by the Holy Spirit of God through the Word of God; and therefore daily celebrating God’s love in sending a Savior.

It is why Luke wrote; Luke 1:1-4. He maintains that Jesus’ life and ministry fulfills or completes what OT prophets foretold. Eyewitnesses had passed the truth on from the start. Luke investigated everything carefully; took time to study the facts; wrote so Theophilus (prob a non-Jew who had come to faith in Christ but didn’t feel connected to the family of God) would know the certainty of what he’d been taught; so the familiar isn’t neglected. God wants you to know and live the truth daily that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises and therefore can be trusted, even in the midst of persecution from those outside the faith or lack of connection with those in it.

So take another look at a familiar story. Read what God says in His Word and be changed.