As I was sitting at my desk checking things off my TODO list Saturday afternoon, the song “My Grown-up Christmas List” came on. I was thinking through some of the different things the singer [who happened to be Michael Bublé ;)] was saying…
“Not for myself, but for a world in need:
No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
Every man would have a friend
That right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list
This is my grown-up Christmas list”
This is such an interesting song with powerful lyrics for someone to sing who does not have a belief in Christ to be singing. Not that people outside of knowing Christ can’t desire good for people, but they have no real reason to or push convincing them that it is right.
When encountering people outside of believing in Christ, especially in the US, people usually are pushed to think about what they can do to benefit themselves. They are trying to fulfill/answer these questions: “What kind of job can I get to get the most money…and who can I walk on/climb over to get there?” Instead of thinking how I can benefit that person as Christ tells us to do, they ask, “What can that person do for me so that I can move up on the ladder?” “What kind of things will I be willing to do/sacrifice (marriage, family, friends, things of great importance, etc) to get to the top?”
I think one of the main things I see in our current culture is how marriages are no longer able to sustain the lifetime of the couple. They end short after they begin. These marriages do not even begin until the pair is over the age of 25. If you asked anyone in our culture why this is, I don’t believe they could give you a solid, concise answer. Instead, they might just say, “that is what you are supposed to do.” “That is the norm.” “It’s what everyone else is doing.” You have to love a person and be intimate with them before you can know if they are marriage material.” Etc. Etc. Etc.
I could name reason after reason why this is. Though, I would relate it back current day culture’s push. They are pushing for career. They are pushing for happiness. They are pushing for all these other things that aren’t guaranteed in this lifetime.
Followers of Christ are not promised happiness, but joy through painful circumstances. Followers of Christ are not promised a career, but a lifetime service to Christ.
They are not promised a perfect, happy marriage, but one that will sanctify them and glorify the Lord if they are obedient to Christ and keep their covenant with Him.
They are not promised anything in this world, and anything they do have is a gift from above. (“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17)
Going back to the song, followers of Christ are told to love everyone and not to hate anyone. They are called to be selfless. They are called to be gracious to everyone. They are told to do all of these things and to love Christ first of all before anything else. That list screams what Jesus preached (some more than others). As believers we need to be fighting for love to always win. We need to be that friend for a person who has no friend. We need to bring Christ and the good news of the Gospel to people so that they can have hearts healed by the perfect Physician. We need to be doing these things so that Christ may be glorified. It is so important.
So as the Christmas season is approaching, it is “My Grown-Up Christmas…” PRAYER that I would begin to implement these things better than I have in the past 21 years of my life.
Lord, give me grace to be able to do this.
To Be Continued… =)
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