What Would Change Your Life This Christmas?

The interviewer posed the question: What could someone have said or spoken over you to change the trajectory of your life? "Interesting question," I thought. "What would be my answer?" She wasn't asking me, however; I was listening to an interview with two pastors whose faithfulness I admire. The first gave his answer: You are someone; you are worth something, and there is hope. "Oooh, good answer! I could've used that," I thought. The second pastor spoke the answer that came up from my heart and dissipated all those warm fuzzies I was feeling from the first pastor: I just needed to obey. That right there was a truth bomb, and it had hit me a split-second before the sound of his words had hit my ears. There was something for me to learn here.

Let me first say, both pastors were preaching the Gospel. God demonstrated through the incarnation of His Son that we are all worth something; He gave us all hope, but a greater brand of hope than we could have ever imagined --eternal Hope. Jesus demonstrated it with His blood! That's what we are worth to Him. And just as He obeyed His Father in making a way for the One True God to be our Father through His flesh, we are to obey as He did. We just need to obey. 

But why? 

1. Because He is God. Plain and simple, cut and dried. He is worthy, and His worth is not up for debate.

2. Because He gave His life for us (not quid pro quo, but homage. I'll get back to the quid pro quo thing.)

3. Because if He is willing to lay down His life for us, He must love us. And if He is all-knowing, all-powerful, omnipresent, and immutable; if He is Faithful and True, why would we not trust Him implicitly? Would He ever mislead us? Did He save us just to destroy us? Does He hold it over our heads: "See, see what I did for you? I died for you: you owe Me?" No more than a chair says to us, "You were so tired yesterday. You sat in me and I held you up; I provided a place for you to rest: you owe me." We are free to walk around thinking fire insurance is enough, just as we are free to walk around thinking that to have a chair is refreshing. But is it? We demonstrate our belief in Jesus and His sacrifice and His resurrection; we demonstrate the sufficiency of His work and His person by entering into a covenant relationship with Him and, because He is perfect, because He knows best, because He knows all and has all power, because He loves us better than we could ever love ourselves, we obey; we follow His plan. As I mentioned before, there is no quid pro quo, but when One demonstrates His integrity and love, is He not worthy of ours?

The Christmas season is all about the trajectory of life --of many lives --being changed. The demonstration by a perfect God that we are worth something: Here is Hope. And the call to follow and obey because Hope has come and desires a covenant relationship with us.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift!