Making Sense out of Christmas

Katherine rushed to the city newspaper office and thrust the cable into the hand of the editor. He read it, smiled and said, "Well, well! How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas!" The editor totally missed what could have been, for him, the news scoop of the century.

And what about Wilbur and Orville's minister father—a man who believed in God? Did he have faith in his own sons? Hardly. He was convinced that their desire to fly was heresy!

Strange creatures we are!

And what about the religious people who lived in Christ's day? Having heard Christ's teaching and seen his miracles first hand, did they believe in him? No. One of the tragic ironies was that the very people who believed in God and knew from the Bible that God was going to send a Messiah (Christ the Savior), and were looking expectantly for his coming, didn't recognize him when he came. In fact, they rejected him and had him crucified!

They didn't accept Christ because he didn't fit into their past experiences and, consequently, their expectations. The Jews expected that Christ would come as a mighty king and overthrow the oppressive Romans and set the people free. Furthermore, in the opinion of the religious people, Christ didn't mix with the "right" people and, to make matters worse, he blasted the phoniness of contemporary religiosity.

Thus, most of the religious people of Christ's day missed the greatest opportunity anybody could have ever had. They met the Son of God in person and didn't know it. They could have received forgiveness for all their sins and been given the gift of eternal life. But because there was nothing in their past experiences with which to associate Christ or his teachings, they refused to believe in and accept him.

To know and not to do
is not yet to know.

Many people today believe that Jesus was a great religious leader. But as for their committing their life to him, that doesn't gel with any previous experience, so they don't believe enough to act on his teachings.

A wise man once said, "To know and not to do is not yet to know." In other words, to believe and not to act is not yet to believe, for we only truly believe that which motivates us to action.

The proof of our belief in Christ is in what we do about him. Can you accept that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to earth to identify with mankind and die for your sins? If you haven’t done so before, you can act on this belief by praying and asking Christ to forgive your sins, to come into your heart and life as personal Lord and Savior, and by making a commitment of your life to serve and follow him. You can do this anytime. In so doing, you will receive God's forgiveness and the gift of eternal life.

Don't miss this—the greatest gift anyone could ever receive. Accept it today. For a prayer to help you accept God's forgiveness click on the "God's Invitation" button link below. 

Continued on Page Three Back to Page One


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