I sat down to journal a few weeks ago and this is what came out. I don't usually share my journal entries on my blog so I feel rather vulnerable typing this up and sharing it here. But I realized as I was writing it that it wasn't just for me. This is my heart's cry this Christmas season.
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There is still so much of our lives here that is free and beautiful. But I think that losing our outward expressions of freedom will also cause us to understand more deeply the freedom and hope we have in Christ. Those who are proud of this spacious place, this country, so often attribute it to themselves, their forefathers, what they have done and made and sacrificed for and built. The Pharisees of Jesus' day were proud too, so proud of their cultural inheritance through Abraham and Moses and David that they did not recognize when the fulfillment of Moses' Law stood before them, Abraham's seed there in the flesh, the great King who was descended from David and yet who was his Lord.
We are blind like that, I think, when we long for our temporary, earthly home to be perfect; when really the imperfection of this country ought to remind us to long for our eternal, perfect heavenly home. Not that we do not pray and act in faith, but we do it as "looking unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:1-3)
This Christmas, where is your focus? Where will you choose to place your hope and trust? On what will you choose to allow your thoughts to dwell? Will you be swept up in buying and making things for your friends and family? That is a delightful thing to do - but are you forgetting Christ? Is your Bible gathering dust while you blithely skip from one store to the next, gathering trinkets that have no lasting value? To give a good gift is a genuine blessing, but a lame gift just for the sake of giving something is a waste of your time and a waste of their space.
Why not give of yourself? Can you volunteer in a homeless shelter or help some new mama get her laundry done - or babysit for a while so she can have one blessed hour of quiet time - or do her dishes? (Yes, I'm thinking of myself!) Go visit the lonely shut-ins from your church one evening instead of watching TV! The news can be missed for a day. Instead of wracking your brain for something, anything, you can get for that family member who has everything they could ever need, why not give funds to those who are serving "the least of these," and in that way, join Christ's mission of redemption?
Give funding to International Aid Services or A21 to rescue a pre-teen girl who is trapped against her wishes in the horrific, brutal clutches of enslaved prostitution. Give money to support a safe home and vocational training for young girls who have been rescued. Provide a well of clean water for a village in Africa where half the children die from preventable diseases. Provide malaria nets for a whole family - only $18! - so that some poor mother in Zambia doesn't have to watch her children die from stupid mosquito bites. Give the gift of an ox or pig or sewing machine or chickens to some poor family that will never overcome their cycle of poverty and malnutrition and lack of education and poor hygiene and disease without that very little help - which you so easily can give!
And while you're at it, why not help fund a clinic in Niger or Thailand or Ethiopia or Bangladesh so that a mother or two or twenty or 200 can have good prenatal care, rather than, say, both mother and infant dying of tetanus is used to cut an umbilical cord?
The possibilities are endless, the needs are obvious. Sending somebody a gift card to tell them that you've freed a young girl, or given a month's worth of meals to a homeless boy, or given a livelihood to a family or safety to a child or clean water to a village - would this not be a more valuable gift than adding another scarf to their closet, another mug to their cupboard, even another book that could just as easily be checked out from the library?
We Americans have, for the time being, been given the tangible gift of outward freedoms and fantastic monetary blessings. Very few people in history have had the opportunities and blessings and prosperity which we take for granted. When will we understand that these blessings were not meant for us to hoard to ourselves but so we could, individually and corporately, share the light of Christ with those walking in the darkness?
"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:1-4)
Our brothers and sisters in Christ are being persecuted in droves this Christmas. In Syria, India, Kenya, Pakistan, and dozens of other countries, those who love God and call on the name of Jesus will either do so as secretly as possible or else face losing their jobs, their families, or their lives. Pray for them. Remember them. Subscribe to magazines and e-newsletters like International Christian Concern, Voice of the Martyrs, and Gospel for Asia so that you can "be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18).
We who live in American and Canada have been given the temporary, incredible gift of outward freedom. Even better, those of us who know Christ have been given eternal redemption and hope through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
So my question is, how are you going to use your freedom this Christmas?
"You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Galatians 5:13-14)
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Friends, I am not saying I rock at doing this. Every November finds me making huge Christmas lists for all kinds of ridiculous things that my children totally don't need. And then the Christmas catalogs start to come in. WorldVision, International Christian Concern, International Justice Mission, and others too. And I slowly, slowly remember that what I really want this Christmas, what I really want to stand for in my life, is not getting whatever I've got written down on my wish list. What I really want to stand for is love. Real love that helps our brothers and sisters in the Lord, that sets the captives free, that rescues the downtrodden, that feeds the hungry bellies and brings the Bread of Life to hungry souls.
I can't encourage you enough. Make this Christmas matter for more than just having a good time with your family and friends. Make it matter for eternity. This freedom we have been given is not to be taken lightly.
For more suggestions on ways to give this Christmas, this is a post I wrote a few years ago about ways to share and give to those who are truly in need: Purposeful Giving.
For more suggestions on ways to give this Christmas, this is a post I wrote a few years ago about ways to share and give to those who are truly in need: Purposeful Giving.
Thank you Jamie! This is challenging and empowering.
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