What am I talking about? Christmas of course. I went to a friend's place for dinner on Christmas eve and apart from bringing some food, I was asked to prepare the music for the night. So I was thinking: Christmas + dinner + music = Christmas music/carols. Sounds like a fairly appropriate choice, doesn't it? Despite my efforts to provide a Christmas-like feel to our dinner, the music that i chose wasn't really everyones favourite. So the host had to change the music selection to a more "modern" genre.
I didn't mind the music to be changed, because it is just music and I fully understand everyone have their preferences. However, there is one comment that troubled me was that one of the guest mentioned that she heard the word 'Jesus' a few times through the Christmas music and found it slighty unpleasant. I don't blame her because she is not a believer. However, the question that I would really like to ask is: Isn't Christmas all about the Lord Jesus Christ?
If the Lord Jesus was not born to this earth, there will be no Christmas, no joy of giving gifts to each other, no peace of a family gathering, no hope for a new year... no hope for all of us in this world. I am glad it is not so, I am thankful that when we remember Christmas, the Lord Jesus is the centre of it all, because Christmas is all about hope, the hope of a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!
lonely christmas
Another year, another term, and another Christmas is just around the corner. As usual, everyone is out shopping and busy preparing for the Christmas family time spent together. However, things are not so 'busy' in my flat. Instead, it is rather quiet since my flat mates won't be around for Christmas. At first it didn't bother me much, because I am not much of a party person myself. However, seeing so many people getting into the Christmas spirit and going back home to spend Christmas with their families does make me feel lonely at times.
It is easy to get use to spending Christmas by yourself after a few years, but I guess there is still something inside that wants Christmas to be special, something to look forward to and remember. It makes sense since Christmas is anything but ordinary, because we remember the birthday of the one person that brought hope and salvation to mankind. Just as I was starting to complain about being all lonely and bored, a friend reminded me that despite not being able to spend Christmas with my family like most people do, I still have a Father in heaven who will be with me on Christmas day, and that makes all the difference.
It is interesting that on Christmas, we take it as a time when we can come together as a family and just spend time with each other. Yet the day when Christ was born, He was born into a world which did not welcome Him. He left His father's side to save a world that was lost. In a way, He came to this world lonely, so that we who believe in Him need not be lonely anymore. The Son of God gave... so that we may receive. May this blessed time of the year be a reminder to us - we are all blessed, only because He gave.
It is easy to get use to spending Christmas by yourself after a few years, but I guess there is still something inside that wants Christmas to be special, something to look forward to and remember. It makes sense since Christmas is anything but ordinary, because we remember the birthday of the one person that brought hope and salvation to mankind. Just as I was starting to complain about being all lonely and bored, a friend reminded me that despite not being able to spend Christmas with my family like most people do, I still have a Father in heaven who will be with me on Christmas day, and that makes all the difference.
It is interesting that on Christmas, we take it as a time when we can come together as a family and just spend time with each other. Yet the day when Christ was born, He was born into a world which did not welcome Him. He left His father's side to save a world that was lost. In a way, He came to this world lonely, so that we who believe in Him need not be lonely anymore. The Son of God gave... so that we may receive. May this blessed time of the year be a reminder to us - we are all blessed, only because He gave.
Am i who i should be
I remember one of the earlier posts of this blog I mentioned a song which writes "Do they see Jesus in me, do they recognize His face..." This particular statement seem to remind me once again that have I been reponsible enough to reflect the beauty of Chirst as I should have? Or have I just let my testimony be turned into an awful stench to the holy name of the Lord Jesus.
I realise that many times I find myself in a position that even those who are not saved show a better testimony than I should have. Which begs the question: How did I find myself in this place where I see glimpses of Chirst-likeness in others rather than in his own child? It is as though if I was within a group of people chosen for others to point out which one in the group is a chirstian, I know I would not be chosen. Most of us are bothered that foreigners do not recognize which country we are from. We complain that just from our looks, the way we talk and act it is obvious where we come from. Similarly, what if someone came up and said: "I am sorry, I didn't recognize that you were a christian, you sure don't look like one."
It is bad enough for people not to recognize saved ones as believers, it is even worse if unsaved ones were seen as a better testimony than saved ones should be. Do they see Jesus in me? By God's grace and mercy, I sure do hope so...
I realise that many times I find myself in a position that even those who are not saved show a better testimony than I should have. Which begs the question: How did I find myself in this place where I see glimpses of Chirst-likeness in others rather than in his own child? It is as though if I was within a group of people chosen for others to point out which one in the group is a chirstian, I know I would not be chosen. Most of us are bothered that foreigners do not recognize which country we are from. We complain that just from our looks, the way we talk and act it is obvious where we come from. Similarly, what if someone came up and said: "I am sorry, I didn't recognize that you were a christian, you sure don't look like one."
It is bad enough for people not to recognize saved ones as believers, it is even worse if unsaved ones were seen as a better testimony than saved ones should be. Do they see Jesus in me? By God's grace and mercy, I sure do hope so...
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