A wonderful hymn reminds us of the birth of Jesus. I love the hymn but there is something about it that doesn't set well. Some of the words are these:

All Your works declare Your glory;

All creation joins to sing.

Praise resounds as earth rejoices

In the birth of Christ, the King.[1]

To these words my heart says "Yes," but I know many people on the earth do not rejoice in Jesus birth. They want very little to do with Jesus, in fact. To them He is an inconvenience, an ancient relic too old for our world and too demanding to be taken seriously.

In the end, however, each of us must decide for ourselves what we shall do with the baby born in Bethlehem. Shall we ignore Him? Shall we let the story rest in peace and move on to what we perceive to be greater things? Shall we follow His life far beyond the manger to see where it takes us? Shall we fall before Him and call Him Lord? What shall we do with Jesus?

For one thing, we ought not to let others determine for us what we shall do with Jesus. Those of us, who fall before Him and call Him Lord, do it because we know He is the Lord. He is the best thing that has ever happened to us. He has spoken His peace into our lives and it has forever changed us for the good.

What shall we do with Jesus? Those of the earth may or may not rejoice; but we will rejoice. We will sing, "Joyful, joyful, we adore You, God of glory, Lord of light," and we do so with hearts set on fire by His life and light and joy. He has not dealt with us according to our sins and He has received us to Himself as the Messiah, Lord of lords and King of kings.

Joy to the world!

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[1] "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You," words by Linda Lee Johnson, 1985, music by Ludwig van Beethoven, 1824, arr. By Edward Hodges, 1864

Never before has there been a more measurable spiritual search in the lives of the people in our culture than there is today. People are hungry for spiritual meaning and purpose. Life hits people hard at all levels of society and no one is exempt from the realities of life. People are searching.

People are looking for the truth about things. They're not looking for membership and institutions and "big brother" answers. They are looking for hope. People want meaning and purpose; and Jesus Christ, perhaps unbeknownst to them, is exactly what they are looking for.

The poet said,

Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,

Feelings lie buried that grace can restore.

Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,

Chords that are broken will vibrate once more.[1]

People need a vital and living relationship with the God of all grace, not a rigid set of religious rules that take them from one set of bondage producing things into another set.

The apostle Paul says, "It was for freedom Christ has set us free" (Gal. 5:1). That's why the message of Jesus is powerful for today. Jesus takes people to the truth and then by that truth, sets them free.

I have a lot to be thankful for, and this truth is at the top of my list.

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[1]. Verse 3 of “Rescue the Perishing” by Fanny Crosby, 1869

I like the question, “What Can I do for my God?”. It personalizes for me the fact that I really do love God and I really do want to live for Him. This is a settled issue for me. What is fluid in my faith is the matter of being about living for God so that my love for Him will shine through in all I do.

As Christians we are about the vocation of living in response to the love of God embracing us through Jesus. We are loved. All the way to death and beyond Jesus acts on behalf of the love of God. We love because He first loved us. I John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Later John says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (I John 5:3).

The love of God for us moves us to be faithful to His will and His ways; so, the question comes: In light of how much God loves me, what can I do for my God?” Jesus likens it to a taking of what has been given us, and then being stewards of that gift. In a parable he spoke of three different people, each of whom had received “talents,” one was given five, one was given two, and one was given one.

A talent was an economic term equaling about fifteen years worth of wages. Each person was entrusted with quite a large sum of money, but how they lived out their stewardship was not to be a comparative thing. Faithfulness was the issue. Be it five, two, or one talent, the amount of return on the investment wasn’t so much the issue as was the fact that the holder of the talent was faithful in the execution of the stewardship of what had been entrusted to him.

What can we do for our God just because we love Him?

One of the so-called seven deadly sins is slothfulness, the neglect to take care of something that one should do. It has been referred to as the failure to employ or make use of one's talents and gifts. It is a failure of heart and focus to do what one needs to do.

Jesus tells a story about ten virgins, five of who were wise (prudent) and five of who were foolish. They were all waiting to participate in a wedding feast. The bridegroom was late so the ladies had to make preparation for the late arrival. Five did so and five did not do so. When the bridegroom came, the five wise virgins were ready, but the five foolish virgins, having done nothing to prepare, were not allowed to enter into the feast. They had been slothful and unalert. They missed out on the celebration because they had refused to prepare themselves. They had no one to blame but themselves.

Jesus uses His story to tell His disciples that they needed to be on the alert because they really didn’t know, what He called, “the day nor the hour” (Matt. 25:13); and, neither do we. Jesus, the Bridegroom may return today before sundown or He may tarry a thousand years. We don’t know. What we do know is that between this moment and that moment we must live alertly, doing with our lives what it means to know the Bridegroom and be ready for the feast He is giving.

The apostle Paul speaks of how “the Lord will come just like a thief in the night” (I Thes. 5:2). His coming will catch us off guard, but it doesn’t have to catch us unaware.

Jesus wants His people to be ready at all times, ready to hear Him say, “I know you” (see Matt. 25:11-12).