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By Rev Don Rivers
As the Christmas season gets into full swing, we are bombarded by planning and preparing. This is not unlike preparing for the racing season where the right preparation can make the difference between success and failure. What will make our Christmas season a success? What are the priorities we need to have so that we will understand the true meaning of Christmas; Hope, Joy, Peace, and Love. Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I want to thank my wife, Lynda, for sharing her thoughts last week. I think it is always good to see things from a different perspective. This Christmas season maybe we can take a different approach; let us try to take a step back and soak in the true meaning, relax and enjoy.
Preparing is something that can become obsessive. I know; I am the one of those people who has to have everything all planned out. If you ever saw my backpack you would see that I have every option covered and then some. I struggle to relax and let things happen. My wife’s column was more for me than anyone else.
Have you ever noticed that you can be so caught up in planning and preparing that you miss the enjoyment and excitement of an event? Before you realize, it’s over and you are wondering what happened. Christmas is too important to get caught up in all the trappings and miss the point; God sent His Son to come and give His life for us. He would lay down his life so that we could live.
John 3:16-17; “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Romans 5:6-8; You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Sacrifice is not something racers are unfamiliar with; we all make sacrifices to do what we enjoy. How about making a sacrifice for someone else’s benefit? Many times, we rationalize whether they deserve it before we give. Therein lies the gift of Christmas, while we were yet undeserving Christ came and gave his life for us.
Ephesians 2:8-9; God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
How do we prepare to receive such a gift? We don’t have to, instead we receive it, not because we deserve it but because it is offered to us. There is so much love in this gift that we have trouble getting our hands around it.
In this gift we can find many things;
We find hope, hope for tomorrow, hope for forgiveness of our shortcomings, hope for others.
We find a peace that isn’t easy to understand, a confidence that we are cared for and nothing can defeat us.
We receive a joy that doesn’t depend on the circumstances that surround us. We can be joyful whether we have everything or nothing at all.
It all comes from the love that Jesus has for us, a love so powerful that it would allow him to give his life for you and me.
I urge you to receive the gift that God offers, the life that comes from accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. That is the preparation that needs to be done to fully experience the true meaning of this Christmas season. Take Christ out of Christmas and all you have left is a mess.
Let Christmas happen, open the gift that Christ offers. Then relax and enjoy the Hope, Peace, Joy and Love found in the gift of Jesus Christ. Christ came so that we could have life and live it to its fullest.
Until next time, remember God loves you and Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing! God Bless. Remember, that your prayerful support and donations helps us continue this ministry. Thank You.
