The problem with Christmas is that we are so easily satisfied!
If you don't know, you are about to: this is my favorite season of the year. Actually, Christmas is my favorite holiday EVER! Growing up in Hawaii, I would admire pictures of snowy streets with kids throwing snow. With our first t.v., I watched "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" and "Santa Claus is coming to town", dreaming of a Rockefeller Christmas. When we moved to the mainland, my dreams got bigger as I strung lights up on our house in Millington, TN. The feeling of a magical Christmas has always captured my heart. When Michelle and I got married, Christmas got better. I now had someone not only to share my Christmas dreams with, but also had someone to spoil with Christmas presents. When we had our kids, Christmas went to a whole new level. I continue to find myself swept up in giving to my family and enjoying their company during this incredible time of the year.
Before I became a follower of Christ, Christmas was really about me. I remember being so ungrateful with gifts that were given to me or disappointed when I could not give a great gift. That changed dramatically when Christ became my everything. The very gift He had already planted in me (the desire to give to people), He filled with joy no matter who I had an opportunity to give to. My wife will tell you I would give our house away if I could. God took a lover of giving and filled it with joy.
To that end, there is a great problem I see arising in Christmas, and really in all of life. We have become too easily satisfied with things that are not used by God and fill fleshly lusts. Michelle and I have a friend who recently walked away from a marriage because they didn't get what they wanted out of it. The relationship went from God centered to me centered quickly. I have watched fathers forsake their families and spend too many hours at work trying to advance a career that began as a way to provide for their family, but has become a way for them to feel security or significance. I have watched people who are single give away their purity to feel accepted or love.
The problem with all of these is that the end result came from an overwhelming need to fill our own flesh with something we think we need. We have become satisfied with things that our Lord has never created us to be satisfied in. When God created man and as He continues to create man, there is only one thing that God has placed as supreme worth and satisfaction for every human, Himself. The things we are looking for are all found in Him. Significance, worth, love, hope, peace, joy and purpose are all found within the person of Jesus Christ. He came to give us Himself (John 17:3) and lives intimately inviting us to dine at His table and find satisfaction (Psalm 34:8). He became the perfect child and human for us resulting in the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Our sin is the result of us becoming satisfied in anything but Christ.
Christmas is such an incredible time, because it really speaks to the greatest gift given to us, which will always fill us with what we need, Himself. Christmas is about becoming satisfied in God. The problem arises when we turn this time of year into becoming satisfied in self!
"God is most glorified in you, when you are most satisfied in Him" Dr. John Piper
This Christmas, I pray you will find your hope, joy, peace, comfort, worth, or whatever you are looking for in the one thing that will never leave you nor forsake you, Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas and may your heart be full of Jesus!
Before I became a follower of Christ, Christmas was really about me. I remember being so ungrateful with gifts that were given to me or disappointed when I could not give a great gift. That changed dramatically when Christ became my everything. The very gift He had already planted in me (the desire to give to people), He filled with joy no matter who I had an opportunity to give to. My wife will tell you I would give our house away if I could. God took a lover of giving and filled it with joy.
To that end, there is a great problem I see arising in Christmas, and really in all of life. We have become too easily satisfied with things that are not used by God and fill fleshly lusts. Michelle and I have a friend who recently walked away from a marriage because they didn't get what they wanted out of it. The relationship went from God centered to me centered quickly. I have watched fathers forsake their families and spend too many hours at work trying to advance a career that began as a way to provide for their family, but has become a way for them to feel security or significance. I have watched people who are single give away their purity to feel accepted or love.
The problem with all of these is that the end result came from an overwhelming need to fill our own flesh with something we think we need. We have become satisfied with things that our Lord has never created us to be satisfied in. When God created man and as He continues to create man, there is only one thing that God has placed as supreme worth and satisfaction for every human, Himself. The things we are looking for are all found in Him. Significance, worth, love, hope, peace, joy and purpose are all found within the person of Jesus Christ. He came to give us Himself (John 17:3) and lives intimately inviting us to dine at His table and find satisfaction (Psalm 34:8). He became the perfect child and human for us resulting in the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Our sin is the result of us becoming satisfied in anything but Christ.
Christmas is such an incredible time, because it really speaks to the greatest gift given to us, which will always fill us with what we need, Himself. Christmas is about becoming satisfied in God. The problem arises when we turn this time of year into becoming satisfied in self!
"God is most glorified in you, when you are most satisfied in Him" Dr. John Piper
This Christmas, I pray you will find your hope, joy, peace, comfort, worth, or whatever you are looking for in the one thing that will never leave you nor forsake you, Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas and may your heart be full of Jesus!
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