My little addition to Our Daily Bread (11/23/11):
For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, [then how] much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life! (Romans 5:10 HCSB)
In the Christian calendar, Christmas lies just a month away. In the US cultural calendar it seems, Christmas began weeks ago when the Halloween merchandise moved from the seasonal shelves to the clearance shelves – clearly overshadowing the day we set aside this week as a day of Thanksgiving. (It makes me consider joining our Canadian neighbors and have my day of Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October – but that would put it right around birthdays of both my wife and I. Though they might not be “celebrations,” I still better leave it as it is and just “celebrate” Columbus Day on their Thanksgiving.)
Just as Thanksgiving gets swallowed up culturally by Christmas, a real appreciation of Good Friday gets lost in the cultural embrace of Easter. Paul reminds us that the marvel that is Christ’s payment of our debt through His own death is the source of the joy. The joyous gift of Christmas is best understood as the end of a long wait for the Lord’s promised Savior, just as the new life of the resurrection is best understood with the payment of our debt. The joy of the celebration is in the reconciliation and the reconciled are those who understand the joy best. It is my Thanksgiving for Him claiming me as His that adds light to Christmas rather than being lost in its shadow.
But the angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David.”
(Luke 2:10-11 HCSB)
- Andy Jentes
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