3:00AM Thought

Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me.

John 14:1

I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I have read the above verse, yet I have never, not once, grasped its true meaning. Even last night, as I was reading in my quiet time, I read right through it without thinking, but then something made me go back a read again. It was when I reread it for what must have been the five thousandth time that it finally clicked. It is easy to believe in the existence of a Creator God, but it is oh so much harder to believe in the One who came to "seek and save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).

Jesus is Emanuel, God with us. He came be with us, to walk us, to talk with us, all on a daily, minute-by-minute basis. But He also came to destroy that which He hates the most--sin. But it just so happens that what He hates the most is what we as humans love the most. That Bible says in John 3:19, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." The truth is we love our sin, and we don't want to give it up. Therefore it is hard for us to believe in the One who came to take away that which we love the most.

As we enter into the new year, let me challenge you as well as myself to believe in the Savior as well as the Creator. And if you have yet to trust Christ as the Lord of your life, I invite you to do so before it is eternally too late for you. If you will turn from all sin and trust Jesus alone to save you, He will save you today and keep you saved forever.

That's What Christmas Is About, Mr. O

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:11

I seldom watch The O’Reilly Factor myself; however, my mother likes to watch it, so I sometimes catch bits and pieces as I pass through the living room. Over the last couple of weeks, I have been hearing him talk about calling Christmas what it is—Christmas. For example, when Rhode Island Governor, Lincoln Chafee, insisted that the Rhode Island State House Christmas tree be referred to as a “holiday tree,” Bill O’Reilly called the Governor out on the matter. O’Reilly said that the tree is not a holiday tree; it is a Christmas tree. That, I agree with. However, I do not agree with Mr. O’Reilly’s reasoning behind his argument simply because it is not right. Mr. O’Reilly said that it should be called a Christmas tree because it has been an American tradition for centuries. This, however, could not be further from the truth.

Bill O’Reilly has been a supporter of Christmas for years. He even sells a variety of products on his website that proclaim, “We Say Merry Christmas!” However, over the last couple of weeks, I have been made aware that his reasoning for doing so is in reality very anti-Christmas. We do not call Christmas Christmas because of any kind of tradition; we call Christmas Christmas because that’s what it is. It is called Christmas because it is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It always has been and it always will be.

Many people have commented and said that it is not right to call Christmas Christmas because Christmas is a religious holiday, and it is not right to force one particular religion on everyone. Bill O’Reilly’s response to this last night rather stunned me, to say the least. O’Reilly said that you do not have to believe that Jesus was God in order to celebrate Christmas. He then went on to compare Christmas to Martin Luther King Day, saying that we should remember Jesus for the influential man He was just as we remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for the influential man he was. This comparison is ludicrous in every way. Yes, Dr. Martin Luther King was a very influential man, and his contributions to society should be remembered and respected. However, Jesus was not just any influential man; Jesus was the God Man. Jesus was sent to be born of a virgin, to live a sinless life, and to ultimately die on an old, rugged cross for the sins of all people. To forget this is to kill the spirit of Christmas altogether.

When the angel appeared to Joseph in the night, he said, “And thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). That, my friends, is the one and only true meaning of Christmas. When we celebrate Christmas, we are not celebrating the birth of just any influential man; we are celebrating the birth of the One who saves us from our sins—“the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Perhaps the number one reason Mr. O does not understand that Christmas is so much more than any other American tradition is because he has never experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ in his own life. Well, I am here today to tell anyone who does not know Jesus as Lord that, if you will turn from all sin and trust Jesus alone to save you, He will save you today and keep you saved forever.