The Cost of Christmas

Well, it's almost Christmas. The traffic is thicker and our patience is thinner. We're beginning to put one eye on the calendar and the other on the checkbook make sure that one doesn't get ahead of the other. That fear can begin to start - what if we don't have enough? Don't you miss those days as children when you never gave a thought to Christmas' cost?

My family was not wealthy by any means, but neither were we poor. Like many, we lived from week to week, knew our banker or loan officer well, and while we never lacked, we never prospered. Yet every Christmas that I can remember came and went leaving me filled with the belief that I had been blessed. If I wanted a "Johnny 7 One Man Army Gun" badly enough, it seemed to find its way to the tree. If a "Model Motoring by Aurora" racetrack caught my fancy, well, apparently Santa knew that too.

Even though I knew from my trips to the stores that such things had prices, I never concerned myself with the cost.

Yet there was a cost - a sacrifice for my parents - every year. As I grew older, I'd catch snippets of conversations about the bills, and their struggle to pay them. "What are we going to do?", I'd hear my Mother say with worry and fear coloring her voice. "I don't know, but they are going to have Christmas," replied my Father, somewhat more hopefully, but still unsure. And off they'd go to the Western Auto, or to Sears, or to somewhere else they could buy toys and pay on time.

Gradually I realized that my Christmas gifts cost them dearly. In time, in energy, in stress. My mother would cut corners - patch jeans, save pennies. My father would work overtime even after his regular swing shift. So somehow, every year there'd come Christmas. It came with a cost.

It always has.

A few days after the first Christmas, Joseph and Mary went to church to dedicate their son. An old man named Simeon, who had been told by God he wouldn't die until he saw Messiah was there.

Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, "This child will be rejected by many in Israel, and it will be their undoing. But he will be the greatest joy to many others. 35 Thus, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul." Luke 2:34-35 (NLT)

At eight days after his birth, Jesus' 14 year old Mother would just be discovering what it means to have a baby boy - a son. She'd be just like all parents with their first-born - finding themselves looking over at them in amazement, not able to believe what God had given them. Times like that are like the best of Christmas - pure joy.

But Simeon told her of the cost of Christmas too.

And on the way home, as they went past the city gates, they passed those punished for their crimes by the Roman authorities. A peculiar method Rome had picked up from a country they had conquered, and improved to make it even more cruel. It was a very effective public display found outside the city gates of most cities.

Joseph, Mary and the baby passed by, still filled with joy, under the shadow of the cross.

For God so loved... He gave... His one and only Son.

For me... for you, for whoever will believe in Him.

The cost of Christmas has never been higher, or so willingly paid.

Grace!

David

This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.

It Could Be Today

One of the best things to happen to me this Christmas season is that I've tried to forget everything I already knew about Christ's birth. (Yes, those of you who know me well, forgetfullness isn't much of an effort.) We have the Christmas story so dialed into our conciousness that we go on automatic, like cows headed for the barn, and never think there could be aspects of the events we don't know that would surprise us.

So I have deliberately tried to forget what I knew, and gone back to look at the story with fresh eyes.

Today, our weather here is rainy and seems to be headed toward a cold, cold weekend for Christmas. There's even a chance of snow flurries on Christmas Eve. That will make travel very difficult here in the South. But not as difficult as that of Joseph and Mary.

You see we just arrange the figures in the nativity each year knowing they are all supposed to show up at the stable. But they all got there from somewhere else. The shepherds came from nearby fields, but they had to decide whether to risk their livelihood to see what God had done. Going back the next morning to find the owner of the sheep standing over stacks of wolf-killed sheep rapidly approaching their sell-by date of expiration wouldn't have been pleasant at all. But they were willing - because God had acted!

Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem after an arduous trip from Nazareth. Going up and down over mountains and hills means that today’s distance of 100 miles might have been double or even triple for Joseph and Mary. The lack of roads meant they had to climb the hillsides along a narrow muddy path in winter. It’s not very safe for a strong carpenter like Joseph. But add a pregnant woman riding on a donkey? How careful they had to be! Joseph wasn’t a rich man. So where did they stay at night? The mother of the Son of God must have slept beside the road. Gangs of robbers on the roads made night traveling dangerous.

And there was no telling when the baby would come. The fear and frustration of not being able to find shelter each night with a baby so close must have made a stable seem much better than it ordinarily would.

I wonder if Joseph remembered a little prophecy from a man called Micah, and reassured Mary?

Micah 5:2 (The Message)
But you, Bethlehem, David's country,
the runt of the litter--
From you will come the leader
who will shepherd-rule Israel.
He'll be no upstart, no pretender.
His family tree is ancient and distinguished.

Friends, I wish I could tell you how many times I've been about to go insane with worry, and a scrap of Scripture popped into my head, telling me exactly what I needed to hear. Calming me, reminding me of God's unchanging promises and unending love.

Maybe you think you know all you need to know about the Bible and what it says. Well, if you still struggle with fear, with worry, with living a godly life, my gut feeling would be that you know more about the words than the Author.

Try this. Pick up a version of the Scriptures you have never used before. Borrow one if you can. Go to God in prayer and ask Him to begin again with your heart as though you had never heard of His love for you. Ask Him to amaze you, to draw you inside the stories of how He worked in people's lives.

Then pray every day that He will work inside yours.

Your greatest day yet lived could be today.

Grace!

David

This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.