It is, once again, that time of year that we get to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It seems like I have spent more time this year thinking about how RURAL almost the entire Bible is. Of course, the birth of Jesus occurs in a barn surrounded by farm animals. Add to that the impact and importance of the donkey as Mary rides it into Bethlehem on that fateful night leading up to the birth of Jesus. Let us not forget that Jesus also rides a donkey toward in his death as well. In reality, the birth scene is rich with all things God created rather than the things that man himself has created.
Clearly it is not my intent to say that every person who lives in a city today is evil but dating back thousands of years, when humans congregate in cities, it allows evil to multiple more rapidly. In fact, in today’s world some of the things that I hear coming from cities that are happening to the kids of our nation are unbelievable.
I think that problem may be easy to understand; as we live in areas filled with so many people and tall buildings, it is simply harder to appreciate the creation itself. Even the comforts that come along with cities, such as removing yourself from extreme weather conditions, causes a disconnect at many levels. While I don’t think everyone needs to be fixing frozen waterers and trying to keep critters bedded in 40 below windchills in order to be a Christian but it sure helps you stay rooted in the real creations of God the Father.
From a Biblical sense, we look at Sodom, Gomorrah and Babel as the extreme examples of what I am talking about. The folks in Babel thought they could build a building that would reach to the heavens. In pulling together some facts for this piece, I found a Bible study guide that I thought truly summarized what I have been thinking:
Are there any human-made stairways to heaven; you are building in your life? Are your accomplishments drawing more attention to yourself than bringing glory to God? If so, stop and reflect. Are your purposes noble? Are your goals in line with God will?
Here comes that time for self-reflection when I ask myself if my goals are in line with God’s plan? Do I give him the glory for the comforts of life we have. Of course, as humans we never think we have it good enough. It brings to mind the recent NFR in Las Vegas. As each of the winners were interviewed, the overwhelming majority included giving Glory to God for what they had accomplished. I point this out because the statements were made by folks who are tied to and working with God’s creatures.
Jesus was sent here to earth to motivate people to be willing to love and take a stand for truth. In today’s world of the information highway, sorting out the truth from fiction is increasingly difficult but one thing that is never hard to sort out is God’s desire for us to appreciate the simple things in life, not the possessions we acquire. My buddy Marty Beard in North Dakota said it best last week on the radio, “The best Christmas gift you can give this year may be a visit to someone who doesn’t have a anyone to visit with.”
When you really stop and think about every aspect of the Christmas story, it puts all of the things of the world today into context. We are constantly led down the path of cherishing our accomplishments instead of realizing that God has provided them for us.
The moral of the story is that we must exhibit the level of stubbornness equal to that of the humble donkey in order to stay the course. May Christmas 2022 find you surrounded with the people you love most.