The
divine text tells us that when an angel broke through the divide between the
darkness of earth and the glorious light of God’s presence, it spoke to the
terrified shepherds these wonderful words, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news
of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”[1] Christmas has something to do with “great joy”, which invites us to come and see how such a thing may
be experienced.
One
of the problems that God’s great joy has had to battle in every generation, is
that people are already in bondage to lesser forms of joy and don’t necessarily
see the value in trading their counterfeits for the real thing.
Alcoholics
know what little satisfaction they get from their drinking, and yet, as
miserable as their lives appear to everyone around them, they choose the
Christmas cheer that comes in a bottle over the “great joy” that arrived in a stable.
Materialists
know their bondage to the transient pleasure of buying some new treasure, or
receiving some new gift, and cannot believe that a Savior who came to earth as
a little baby could possibly give them more than all the gifts that exchange
hands during the season of his celebration.
People-addicts
know the demanding thrill that comes from spending time with friends and
loved-ones, and cannot fathom the idea that there is a greater friend in the
Loving-one than any collection of people could ever offer.
Added
to the problem is the way that superficial Christmas parties set the stage for
Christmas revelers to feed their bondage to people, material gifts, and
substances that give the feeling of “Christmas Cheer”. No matter whether people
prefer “Merry Christmas”, or “Seasons’ Greetings”, they are drawn to gather
together in some form of merriment that keeps them from the greater joy that
comes into our world as unobtrusively as a baby lying in a manger.
This
Christmas season is another reminder that God sent his Son into the world so
that we could hear “good news of a great
joy”. The invitation remains: leave our bondage to the lesser experiences
of temporal pleasure that come from counterfeit experiences with pseudo-joy,
and receive the Lord of glory who speaks to us so that his joy that is “inexpressible and filled
with glory”[2]
may be in us, and our own joy may be full to overflowing.[3]
“Joy
to the world, the Lord has come!”
From
my heart,
Monte
© 2013 Monte Vigh ~
Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise
noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway
Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
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