"God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay...Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day...To save us all from Satan's pow'r when we were gone astray...Oh tidings of comfort and joy...Comfort and joy...Oh tidings of comfort and joy"
I post the words of song every year, but the words of my favorite Christmas Carol are all the more potent this year, given the senseless tragedies that have been happening lately. Not only the school shooting in Newtown CT, but this morning in Webster NY, a town near Rochester, a man started a house on fire (which ended up spreading to 3 more houses) and shot the firefighters who responded... killing 2 and injuring 2 more. (you can read a more detailed news story here).
People scrabble for answers when these horrible things happen. They cry, "we need more gun control!", "we need better mental health care!"...but the truth is that there is no hard and fast answer to solve or prevent these problems. The only true answer is Jesus. But people don't want to hear that. The truth is that if the men who committed these senseless acts of violence had accepted and followed Jesus and had the Holy Spirit in their hearts and lives, they never would have done these things. (And I mean if they had TRULY had Jesus in their lives, not like so-called "Christians" who commit hateful acts in the name of God).
Humanity is sinful...but we are redeemable. And that is the whole reason Christmas is a big deal. Christmas represents the birth of our redemption. Christ was born so He could die for our sins...so He could redeem us. That is the "gift" Christians talk about at this time of year. The problem is that people don't accept the gift. If we could all just accept God's gift, the world would be a better place. But my hope isn't in this world anyway. The Lord is coming back someday and this world will pass away.
I could probably go on and on and write a whole sermon... there is just so much... but I want to keep my point simple and my post short. I don't usually get all "preachy" on my blog and try to keep it all happy and crafty, but this is something I feel really passionate about. I hope no one has been turned off by it.
During times like these, I am truly thankful I have Jesus to trust and hope in or else I'd be mired in despair. I feel emotionally wrecked by these things as it is, I can't imagine if I didn't have Christ to hope in. I can only pray that those who have been affected more closely by the number of recent tragedies can come to know and trust Christ through it all and come to have the hope that I do.
I post the words of song every year, but the words of my favorite Christmas Carol are all the more potent this year, given the senseless tragedies that have been happening lately. Not only the school shooting in Newtown CT, but this morning in Webster NY, a town near Rochester, a man started a house on fire (which ended up spreading to 3 more houses) and shot the firefighters who responded... killing 2 and injuring 2 more. (you can read a more detailed news story here).
People scrabble for answers when these horrible things happen. They cry, "we need more gun control!", "we need better mental health care!"...but the truth is that there is no hard and fast answer to solve or prevent these problems. The only true answer is Jesus. But people don't want to hear that. The truth is that if the men who committed these senseless acts of violence had accepted and followed Jesus and had the Holy Spirit in their hearts and lives, they never would have done these things. (And I mean if they had TRULY had Jesus in their lives, not like so-called "Christians" who commit hateful acts in the name of God).
Humanity is sinful...but we are redeemable. And that is the whole reason Christmas is a big deal. Christmas represents the birth of our redemption. Christ was born so He could die for our sins...so He could redeem us. That is the "gift" Christians talk about at this time of year. The problem is that people don't accept the gift. If we could all just accept God's gift, the world would be a better place. But my hope isn't in this world anyway. The Lord is coming back someday and this world will pass away.
I could probably go on and on and write a whole sermon... there is just so much... but I want to keep my point simple and my post short. I don't usually get all "preachy" on my blog and try to keep it all happy and crafty, but this is something I feel really passionate about. I hope no one has been turned off by it.
During times like these, I am truly thankful I have Jesus to trust and hope in or else I'd be mired in despair. I feel emotionally wrecked by these things as it is, I can't imagine if I didn't have Christ to hope in. I can only pray that those who have been affected more closely by the number of recent tragedies can come to know and trust Christ through it all and come to have the hope that I do.
No comments:
Post a Comment