Christmas time is here! A time when the hearts of men are open to receive a nibblet of Truth....those who have been hurting all year now seek a ray of hope as they listen to the carols being sung on the radio. This is the only time of year when songs about Christ are played on secular stations; all men now have an opportunity to hear the good news!
Good news....what is this good news? Ask any respectable Christian and they will tell you that it is Jesus, of course.
Jesus....Jesus Christ is the good news that these hurting souls are seeking...and the Word of God says "...seek and ye shall find..." so I ask you this...do they find this good news that we say is Jesus? At a time when the world bends toward the Divine....in this moment, can the seeking soul find good news?
Do you see those around you or do you rush past in a frenzy to find that perfect gift? Do you see the hurting or are you preoccupied with which party is this weekend? Do you hear the heartfelt cries of those less fortunate than you or is that muffled by all the "noise" in your own life? Do you know that the "good news" is within you? Can you feel it in your soul...does it stir your heart as if the Christ was speaking directly to you?
Do you see what I see.....a world searching for something that makes sense; searching for something that can lift them out of the pit they find themselves in;
Can you see the broken hearts in the children around you? The brokenness in the eyes of the women around you - the despair in the men who have been so beaten down that they have given up? This is the world that I see.....a world full of broken people who seek some "good news"!
These broken people are not just the unchurched or the unsaved...NO...these people are sitting in the chairs in the very building you attend on Sunday mornings. And chances are if you asked them how they were doing, they would smile and answer "fine"....did you really believe them?
The body of Christ...the church...has been evaluated and found lacking my friend! We are lacking true compassion for one another....a compassion that looks beyond how inconvenient it is and sees the hurts of your neighbor...yes, the one sitting next to you on Sunday. Lacking in unity...lacking in brotherly love...lacking in forgiveness for one another...simply put...the church of today is lacking any power to draw those in the world to Jesus thus reconciling them with the Father.
Do you see what I see? A body that has become wounded and divided and The Word says that if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Do you see what I see? Hearts that have been wounded, dreams that have been crushed, visions that have been forgotten.....A people that are called by His Name yet does not resemble Him at all.
This Christmas....why not take a moment to purposefully notice those around you? Take a moment to lend someone a hand that is in need; to give a smile to one that looks so downtrodden; to do a good deed simply because you are able...and really listen to the answer when you ask the question....to step out of your comfort zone and help those in need.....to seek to be the "good news" to the person sitting next to you....
Yes, Christmas time is here! And I see a world waiting for us to bring them some "good news" :o)
