A Centered Christmas

Here we are with four days left before Christmas. I began my blogging on the holidays at Thanksgiving promising to offer you ways to keep centered on the “reason for the season”. As we approach the celebration of the birth of our Savior, I am reminded that He is the reason we celebrate. This morning I read in the news that Lady Gaga won entertainer of the year. Her platform was tolerance. I have been pondering that all morning and realize that Jesus had quite a different platform. He came to seek and  save the lost. His mission was to bring hope to the poor and set the captive free; His mission was to destroy the works of the devil. And His goal was not to be entertainer of the year. His message was quite different. His words were: I have come that you might have life abundant; I am the way and the truth and the life; the way to the Father is through me; come to me all who are weary and heavy laden… His message was sobering, was needed, was unique. His claims were outrageous. He did not come with a message of tolerance but a message of hope for all who would turn to Him. He said the way was narrow. He said that those who believed in Him would have eternal life. His message was beyond the limits of the message of tolerance. His message was LOVE. He knew that if we focused on being tolerant only we might miss the real reason He came— to set us free from the bondage of sin and death; to set us free from the bondage of intolerance. He brings ultimate freedom to those who believe. And I vote the same way every year. Jesus is number One. How about you?

Have a blessed Christmas and New Year!