Unwavering Certainty

12/20/2020

John 12:32 “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men to Me.”

My heart bleeds for this world. When I see hatred or pain, I feel it down deep in my soul. Satan is certainly on a brutal attack right now. There is currently so much fear in our world, and I know personally how crippling fear can be. It is wearying, even for people of faith. So, how are we to respond? What are God’s people to do? The verse says it all: if Jesus is lifted up, people will be drawn to Him. People can turn from Jesus, but it is difficult to ignore Him, even though there has been a secular attack on the true meaning of Christmas. If we continue to be quiet, however, it will only be a matter of time before Christ truly is taken out of Christmas.

I have, probably for the first time in my life, started actually listening to Christmas carols. I have known many of them for years, of course, but I have never REALLY listened to them. I have never sung them with purpose, I suppose, always just concentrating on trying to get my singing voice to somehow not offend those around me (not something I am proud of, for sure). There are many more contemporary Christmas songs that, year after year, bring tears to my eyes because of the beautiful stories they tell, but carols never truly resonated with me. This year, however, has been different. I have been listening as they are sung by people who do not claim Jesus as Lord. This hits me deeply, as these people sing about the coming of the Savior of the word, and I wonder if they, too, are just singing pretty “holiday” songs. I mean even many Jewish vocalists have released Christmas albums over the years. After all, Christmas is big business. Sigh.

This year, because of everything that is happening in our lives right now, our family has chosen to release the material part of Christmas and focus solely on the birth of our Savior and all that it means; for it means everything and is just the beginning. So what is the purpose of it all? What is my purpose, and what can I bring to the lives of those around me, not just this Christmas season, but always? Chambers writes, “The thing that remains and deepens is the worker’s simple relationship to Jesus Christ; his usefulness to God depends on that and that alone.”

So, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior, I pray that my gift to others is that I am able to share my simple faith; that I can encourage those around me in the love and light of Christ; that the beautiful carols of old will stir the hearts of people as they have mine; that I will lift up the name of Jesus through my words and actions;  and this Christmas, one in which we are all experiencing some form of uncertainty, we will be able to find unwavering certainty in Christ.