Gift of Gift

Mark 10:45. Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

 There's few things, if we're honest, we enjoy more than being served. After all, it's what prompts us to go to a restaurant for a meal ... someone else is cooking, serving, cleaning-up. It is not, however, what disciples of Jesus are called to do! Jesus set for us the supreme example of servant-hood. Named in Isaiah 9 as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Jesus surrendered Himself to serve-up Salvation as The Father willed it to be done. Altogether worthy and deserving to be served, He did not come for that reason. "But we see Him Who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone." (Hebrews 2:9 ESV). No one forced or compelled Jesus to die - no, He willingly gave Himself - He became a servant to forever be our ... gift of grace. 

Come

James 4:8. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

 A favorite song of Advent begins, "O come" - what an sweet invitation from The Faithful One to the unfaithful: "come," He says. His words are urging us to always be drawing nearer and nearer to Him. We may answer a hearty "yes" to invitations this month, gatherings of family and friends. With eagerness we prepare food and put on our festive best, and we off go! The angels invited and directed the shepherds to Bethlehem; they went and drew near to The Savior, discovering then excitedly telling the good news of His Presence. David wrote, "You make known to me the path of life; in Your Presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Psalm 16:11 ESV). How desperate are you for the nearness of God? The Father waits for us this Advent to draw near. Hear His invitation ... come!

 

 

The Gift and The Glory

 John 5:44. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

Do you remember the Christmas catalog we knew as the "wish book?" Oh how easily it was to become lost in it, totally forgetting it truly was a ... wish book! It is our nature to seek-out that which we do not have in order to gain it, and oh the many places of our seeking. Time after time, year after year resulting in a frivolous lifetime, we seek and fail to find that which we seek. Of course, I don't speak of tangible things ... then, neither did Jesus. John Piper suggests we must become "disenchanted" with earthly things - enchantables. Yes, it's true: "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth" (Colossians 3:2 ESV). Piper says we must give up our longings for praise of, sufficiency and consolation in temporal things. I counted four different kinds of brooms in my closet - each one purchased with the idea that each one would render a better swept floor. How foolish we are when we cannot see the best and most sufficient Christmas gift ever given was to the glory of God and to the utter sufficiency and consolation of mankind - The Word made flesh ... Savior of the world. Jesus - the ... gift and the glory.

Rescue Mission

 Luke 19:10. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

 A favorite of the grandchildren's is the age-old game of "hide and seek." The "seeker" counts down ... 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 ... then yells to those hiding, "here I come, ready or not." The "coming" of Jesus is the focus of Advent - those our weeks prior to Christmas. Luke sums-up the essence of Jesus' coming to earth ... to seek and to save those spiritually lost. In his book, The Dawning of Indescribable Joy, John Piper writes: "The coming of Jesus was a search-and-save mission." We often hear a similar phrase - "search and rescue" - following a catastrophic disaster. Perhaps we miss the deepest thoughts of Jesus when we fail to see Jesus' mission as ... our rescue. Our thinking is too shallow when we merely ponder the plight of Mary and Joseph, no room at the inn, birth in an stable, a lowly group of shepherds, wise men bringing extravagant gifts. These things are indeed much to wonder about, however, we must not neglect to remember God's rescue mission, to spare man from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10). "It's a season for cherishing and worshiping this characteristic of God - that He is a searching and saving God, that He is a God on a mission." (Piper). I suspect we'll all be on-mission about many things this month; let us not forget for even a moment the greatest mission for which all who believe should be most aware and grateful. That mission is that God sent Jesus to seek and to save the lost; yes, you and I were the ... rescue mission.

Think-On Jesus

The season of Advent may have slipped up on you! News flash - it comes the same time each year. Advent - a time when Believers pare to center their hearts on the first coming of Jesus to earth as Savior. That time is now, four weeks before Christmas! How do we find that Christ-centered focus amid the many distracting sights and sounds, tastes and aromas, gatherings and festivities? Let me suggest a month of extraordinary discipline! A firm determination each day to The Word - that is both the Personal of Jesus and to His written word. Noah Webster (1828) says discipline is a "regulation of practice" - an uninterruptible commitment to habitually do something. Those who love Jesus should not find it burdensome nor binding during Advent commit the body, mind, spirit and heart to ponder The Savior. There will certainly be much to see, hear and do as the Christmas month goes. As good as those things may be, do not allow any of them crowd-out The One Who is Center of the Season ... think-on Jesus.