Veroni's Views

As we approach  Christmas, and celebrate the birth of Christ, I think it is imperative that we ask ourselves what we are celebrating.  I want to emphasize that we ought to be celebrating nothing less than the fact that the birth of Jesus opened the way for you and me to see God’s purpose realized in our lives.

It is clear from God’s Word that God’s purpose with you and me is nothing less than that we should be conformed to the image of Christ.  That means we should become like Christ.  That God is serious about that, is clear from 1 John 3.2:  “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

James (James 1.2-4) places difficulties we may be experiencing in the perspective of what God may be achieving in our lives through what we perceive as suffering.  

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” 

James is saying that we should be thankful for trials that come our way, because God uses them to teach us to persevere.  Furthermore, that it is by persevering that we will develop into mature Christians.  James is quite emphatic about what that means:  we will be “complete” and not lack anything.

Wow! What a statement!

The Bible is a wonderfully practical book.  And so we turn to a Scripture that gives us a roadmap of how we can work towards attaining maturity.

In 2 Peter 2.3-4 Peter writes about the great gift of being a child of God, and how God has already given us everything we need to live and to serve God:

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

Then Peter provides the road map:

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” (2 Peter 1.5-7)

You and I are in the privileged position that God has already brought us into his Kingdom.  By rebirth He has instilled in us his own nature.  Now, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can strive to grow to the point where we do not only love one another, but also show God’s love in the broader sense, to those who may not know Him yet. 

Let us use this time to contemplate these truths and pray God will help us to move forward in the plan He has made for us.

Celebrating Christmas thus becomes so much more than contemplating the romantic events of the birth of Christ.  It is celebrating of the momentous event of opening the way for us to become like Jesus.      

Father, Thank you for your abundant provision.  We pray that we may celebrate Christmas realistically with recognition of the true meaning of Christmas.  

In Jesus Name, Amen.