Walking With Christ

12 days until Christmas.

Psalm 98:2-6 (2)The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. (3)He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. (4)Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! (5)Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! (6)With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!(ESV)

The entirety of the old testament is one long prophecy about the coming of Christ along with the detailed explanation as to why we needed it. It shows a rich set of examples of God’s grace and love through our failures. One of the underlying themes, however, has always been that all of humanity should rejoice about our failures and the need for the love and grace of God. It’s because God knew we were going to stumble that He planned a way for us to still have a relationship with Him. Nearly every prophecy in the old testament is fulfilled through the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

It’s because there is a way for us to be reconciled with God that we sing in celebration. This reconciliation is the reason for our joy. People who don’t recognize that they are in danger won’t ask for help because they don’t know that they need it. It’s not until people recognize the threat and what it really means that they will ask for help. We, as Christians, have been shown that our existence will continue for eternity after we die physically. We have been shown that we will either spend eternity in hell or we will spend eternity in heaven. We have been awakened to the very real danger. People who have not been awakened go about their lives completely oblivious to the eternal danger that sits before them. When someone is in a dire situation and hears those amazing words, “help is on the way” they begin to feel the truest form of joy. They have been told that everything will be ok. They are going to make it to the other side of this event. This existence is a dire situation. There is a very real danger that exists when we die here. Help has come. As Christians, we know that help is here and all we have to do is to “endure our race” to the end.

We can look back on our lives before being saved and tremble thinking about how our lives would have gone had we not been saved. We think about the reality that we were truly in danger. Then we give praise to the one who made a way. We live out the rest of our lives in the fullness of joy knowing that no matter how bad this life may get, we have been promised salvation and eternity in heaven because we believe in Him and trust His holy word. We look forward, with palpable anticipation, to the fulfillment of those promises. Until we go home, our job is to stand on the side of the highway to hell and tell people to wake up to the danger ahead. We tell them that there is a little road, barely more than a deer path through the mountains, that will lead them to safety and true security. They may be enjoying the journey on their highway but that fun will come to an end and they will forever be wishing for a return to those simple pleasures. If they heed the warnings and turn from their path, then they will have a much harder road to travel for a while. It will be a heavy burden until they learn to put it at feet of our savior who carries all of our burdens. Once they learn to let go of the lies of the world that left them empty and wanting more then they will find the same joy and fullness we feel.

We’ve turned aside. Those of us who believe in the promises of Jesus know that we are bound for a place of resounding joy with our creator. This is the kind of joy that can’t be contained. We are called, commanded, compelled even, to share this joy with everyone we meet. When we are full of this joy, full of the holy spirit, we will want to share what we have with others. This gift comes with an almost compulsion to share it. When we taste the wine of salvation we know that this is so good that we can’t help but to share it with everyone we know.

Father,
Thank You for the fullness of joy that was prophesied in the old testament and promised in the new testament. We thank You for Your goodness and grace. Today, fill our cups to overflowing with the joy of knowing that we were shown the truth of eternity and made the choice to turn away from that emptiness. We forsake the emptiness of self and turn towards the fullness of Your word. Fill our cups so full that we can’t help but tell everyone about it. Let our joy spill out into every facet of our lives so that those who see us can’t mistake it for anything else. Let a song of praise always be on our lips so that others might hear the good news and also turn aside to share in the joy that Christ brings. Let us celebrate our weakness where Your love, mercy, and grace are made perfect. Let us humbly rejoice in the anticipation of Your return. Lift up the lowly in spirit and remind them of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Everything has a season, but no matter how good or bad that season is, it will pass. This world and all of the pain, suffering, misery, loss, despair, loneliness, heartache, and lacking will fall away. They will be replaced with joy that never ends because we will always be in the presence of our Father, our Creator, our Lord, our King. Let us reach out our hands to lift up our brothers and sisters who are struggling. Let us be heralds of joy for those who have not yet turned aside. Let us rejoice in Your faithfulness.

In Jesus name we pray, amen.