The Absolute

You may know this already but I do not put myself in the cooking-class of my Mom nor some others I know. One thing I do know, however, is recipes rely on absolutes: if it says 1 cup of flour, do not take the liberty of using 2 cups of flour ... that won't end well. I suggest too many Believers today embrace spiritual liberties [that conflict with God's commands] and the [as Mister Bill says] "cause their own blessings." Joseph and Mary were not spiritually liberal: they both heard from The Lord and obeyed - by the way, so did the shepherds and the wise men. Paul wrote, "Now may the God of Peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged - consecrated to Him - set apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We're not given a lot of detail about the spiritual lives of those in the Christmas Story but what their actions tell us a lot! They trusted in The One Who Paul writes of in the very next verse (V.25): "Faithful and absolutely trustworthy is He Who is calling you [to Himself for your salvation], and will do it [He will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you and protecting you as His own]. This description of Jehovah God is absolute - He is faithful and absolutely trustworthy. The faith and obedience of Joseph, Mary, shepherds and wise men are remarkable because they absolutely believed and obeyed He Who is ... Absolute.