Don’t lose heart!

Before you begin reading this post, this is not intended to be heavy by any means – I just needed to state this right at the beginning here!

So, the above Bible verse is very apt for this time right now and is especially for all year round including this season of Christmas/Hanukkah we are in now for the month of December. Anyhoo, back to the blog post at hand!

December is the season of “good will” and is the one month of the year especially where folk perhaps go out of their way to embrace this season by giving gifts and helping others is this not correct! It is also safe to say that December is the month whereby people “do acts of kindness” more so than the rest of the year put together which is fact, sad but fact. I say sad because it is a shame that because it is the season of Christmas that folk do tend to go out of their way to help others. The thing is that people step up where they deem it fitting to go out of their way to be more kind; more loving and so the list goes on. Included in this statement families both small and large go out of their way to host family and friends whom they may not have had much contact with the rest of the year. The same applies here to sending Christmas cards and perhaps getting gifts where families go that extra mile to be “extra loving” where we all have that push if you will to go a step further to host large family gatherings which is where we are going to get into the point of this post!

In December it is fact that for so many it is a time of preparation; it is a time of making lists (and no we are not talking about “santa’s list here just for the record) but we are talking of lists that include the following:

• What gifts to purchase for family & friends
• Meal prep for that “special day”
• Organising where to purchase the Christmas tree and where to put this in your home
• Then there is the organisation of which side of the family should be hosted this year

The prep and organisation that is put in motion at the beginning of December and for many, well before December by this time of the year is in full swing. Families pull together (not all) and literally they all muck in from the very young to the elderly to make it a truly “magical” occasion but however, with all of the planning and copious lists upon lists upon lists along with all the joy and laughter there is one very important factor missing for I would say 92% of the global population. So, what exactly (or rather who) am I referring too here. In the midst of all of the excitement – sadly, one person is left out. This is not just any old person but this person is the whole reason behind celebrating Christmas and yep the clue is at the beginning of the word and is in bold!

Dear reader, if it wasn’t for Jesus Christ there would be no Christmas and this is absolute fact through and through! In fact sadly Christ is now for the most part left out of this amazing season of the year to the point now that folk are offended by the very word of Christmas because of Jesus. So, what do folk do now – they shorten this beautiful word to a word of no value and we are speaking of the word xmas.

I also recall my second ever visit to America back in December 1996 when I was dating a guy called Chuck who lived in Philadelphia. We went to a shopping mall where I believe I was somewhat shocked when folk were wishing others “happy holidays” and I didn’t get it why the phrase “Merry Christmas” was not used and yes Chuck did explain the reason to me so “I” wasn’t left in the dark so to speak! I found the whole experience most peculiar indeed whereas now that term is used here in the U.K. also. As I mentioned in a different way but the meaning is the same where the whole purpose of Christmas is now practically non existent. Folk sadly accept the pagan side of Christmas where they focus on nature and everything that is the opposite of Christ – again, sad but alas truth!

What has this to do with the post title:

We are getting to this now. I mentioned above about folk going that extra mile for this season of “joy & good will” so to speak. This is where I am going to make the point that let us not use this Christmas season only to do good for others – having the joy of Christmas along with helping others should be what we do the whole year round and not just “because it is the done thing to do in this month of December”. Please let none of us any longer get caught into the trap of deceit believing that we should be helping others and all the things at this time of year.

Secondly, let us come back to the entire point of this season which is to celebrate the birth of Jesus which is the whole reason behind Christmas because if it was not for the birth of Jesus – not only would Christmas not exist but because of Our Amazing Precious Saviour Jesus we have the hope of new life and life that is everlasting through Jesus and Him ALONE!

Jesus Christ who is Our Saving Grace in a world so very dark now where through Jesus we can choose to accept His most Precious gift of all which is as mentioned the gift of Life Everlasting through Jesus Christ who is the SAVIOUR of the world.

So, to finalise – let us not grow weary of doing good meaning let us not only do good all year round and not save these “good works” for Christmas but we need to be doing this all year round. However, I will also say here that Life without works is dead. What is meant by this profound statement is if we do not know Jesus Christ as Our Lord & Saviour then doing “good works” is not only futile but totally meaningless. Let us also not only lose heart in doing good but most importantly, let us not lose heart for those of us as both Believers & Followers of Jesus Christ – may we not lose heart in THE ONE WHO GAVE US LIFE AND LIFE IN ABUNDANCE IN THE FIRST INSTANCE. If you don’t know Jesus then………………….

Make sure that you know that:

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