Christmas offers abundance..... ETERNAL LIFE

I had a blog typed and was inserting pictures recently and the Lord told me to not post it. I sometimes find myself blogging for nobody but me, as a release, vent, or whatever else you might want to call it. Sometimes, though, I think, maybe I can reach out, touch and help, just one more person through this outlet of mine, and other times, I think, this is my way of journaling (per spell check, "journaling" is not a word!?!?) my emotions, feelings, and where I am on my journey this side of Heaven. 

I have recently found myself battling the Christmas season with a scrooge outlook and am pretty certain, after talking with a lot of people, that I am not alone in this. The 'hustle and bustle' of the season that we have all come to expect and just accept is an emotion and a result of Satan trying his hardest to take the focus off of Christmas for what it truly is and turn it to the world. Isn't that what he is so good at doing?!?! John 10:10a says "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.." Christmas is not about Satan coming to steal, kill, and destroy, but about our Savior coming to take his place on Earth and save those who believe in him. As I am blogging about this, I can't help but go on and get ahead of myself and tell you the GOOD NEWS, that in John 10:10b Jesus finished that statement by remembering Christmas day! He finishes by saying "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." 

In this world, there are multitudes of moments that we don't understand, actions and attitudes that we can't fathom, and days when we get swept into the current of the world and forget, and Jesus recognizes that when it happens! He knows that we get distracted, that we take our eyes off the prize, that we sometimes put down our cross to carry something else, and in those moments, he offers love, grace, and forgiveness. 

For those who don't know Jesus, Christmas is an opportunity to share the Love that you have found through Him and to offer salvation to the friend or family member that is wandering in the darkness. But what about those of us who dearly love Jesus and try to live our lives according to His will? What about those of us who get lost in the shuffle, or even feel inadequate that there aren't enough 'things' to go around to all of those we want to buy gifts for, because, there just isn't enough in the bank to cover it all? This is where I have recognized a meaning of Christmas that I haven't recognized before... This is where I remember why He came! Yes, I have always known that Jesus' coming was the reason for the Season and all of those other sayings, and I have always know that He came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly - but don't we sometimes just steamroll over that point? Matthew Henry has an incredible insight into this that makes you realize that "life and... have it more abundantly" is much more than just mere 'stuff' on Earth. Matthew Henry says this:

"Life is inclusive of all good, and stands in opposition to the death threatened; that we might have life, as a criminal has when he is pardoned, as a sick man when he is cured, a dead man when he is raised; that we might be justified, sanctified, and at last glorified. 2. That they might have it more abundantly,... more abundant than that which was lost and forfeited by sin, more abundant than that which was promised by the law of Moses, length of days in Canaan, more abundant than could have been expected or than we are able to ask or think. But it may be construed without a note of comparison, that they might have abundance, or might have it abundantly. Christ came to give life and perisson ti--something more, something better, life with advantage; that in Christ we might not only live, but live comfortably, live plentifully, live and rejoice. Life in abundance is eternal life, life without death or fear of death, life and much more."

Jesus' birth on the day that we celebrate Christmas is a promise of ETERNAL LIFE. When we have Christ, we have an advantage over Satan that one day we will ultimately and ETERNALLY live comfortably, plentifully, without death or fear of death! It is a promise of abundance with Him, one day, feasting at His heavenly banquet! Celebrating the final coming of Christ and worshiping Him for all eternity! 


In the hustle and bustle, and in the down days of recovery after Christmas, remember: Christ came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly! Nothing this side of Heaven will ever compare to it, but we must always remember! So in all of this, and during this moment, wish someone a Merry Christmas to share the love of Jesus, write someone a letter or even, in this modern day, text someone an uplifting word, and recognize the meaning of the baby lying in a manger - that baby was the Savior coming to Earth to give us eternal life in Him!

Merry Christmas!!!