The recent holiday stretch has been a mixed blessing for yours truly. It was bad enough that my beloved Georgia Bulldogs lost their College Football Playoff game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. But to add insult to injury, I wound up with a horrible cold that laid me up for four or five days.
The good news is that I’m better now. The better news is that the good of the holidays far outweighed the bad, as I became the recipient of any number for blessings during this same stretch.
To begin with, my family and I have all now been allowed to live into yet another calendar year. We are each reasonably healthy and quite blessed. We enjoyed celebrating our family and our Lord on His birthday, as we gathered, feasted, and partied together.
In the process, I received my share of gifts, which made me happy. But I was given even greater joy as I watched others receive the gifts I gave to them. Hopefully, the memories we made together will live on in the minds and hearts of everyone involved.
For my part, however, one memory will stand out above all the others. That was the special blessing I had of seeing my oldest grandson take communion for the very first time as we all attended the annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion Service at church.
My wife I were unable to go forward and receive communion ourselves. But that was only because we willingly took the responsibility of staying back and sitting with the younger grandsons, the smallest of was sick with a cold, and coughing continuously.
We did not do this in order to boast about it. We simply did so because I thought it was the proper thing to do. That is to say, we gladly did it so that our daughter and her husband could go forward with their eldest son and, together, take communion as a family.
By now, you have probably surmised, quite correctly, that I caught my youngest grandson’s cold. But I would gladly endure the discomfort and distress I have undergone overt eh last week for the memory of seeing my grandson take his first communion. I will carry that memory with me throughout the remainder of my life.
In the process, of course, I have both been reminded that it is indeed much more blessed to give than to receive! For perhaps, this entire episode is but a small reflection of the whole purpose of Christmas. I remind you that the Bible tells us that Christmas is ultimately about Christ giving Himself to become a sacrifice in order that we might be made whole and enter into the presence of our Heavenly Father.
Thus, the Apostle Paul tells us (in his First New Testament Letter to the Corinthians (chapter 3) that Christ came into this world, suffered, died, and was raised again to life, all on our behalf. The writer of the New Testament Book of Hebrews further tells us (in chapter 4) that Jesus is our High Priest, Who sacrificed Himself that we may “approach the throne of God’s grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us”.
Together, these two passages sum up God’s great Christmas gift to us in Christ Jesus. And together, they also remind us of what we can and should do for others, especially at Christmas.
And so, my friend, if Christ has sacrificed so much for me, then I will gladly suffer a little in order for my grandson to grow in his relationship with the Lord. For the memory of my recent sickness will soon be forgotten; but the memory of seeing my grandson take his first communion will stay with me forever.
And I trust that the Lord will continue to give me many more opportunities to sacrifice on behalf of him, his siblings, and his cousins in the coming year. That will be blessing enough for me!
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/niv/1_corinthians/15.htm#footnotes;
https://biblehub.com/niv/hebrews/4.htm.
The good news is that I’m better now. The better news is that the good of the holidays far outweighed the bad, as I became the recipient of any number for blessings during this same stretch.
To begin with, my family and I have all now been allowed to live into yet another calendar year. We are each reasonably healthy and quite blessed. We enjoyed celebrating our family and our Lord on His birthday, as we gathered, feasted, and partied together.
In the process, I received my share of gifts, which made me happy. But I was given even greater joy as I watched others receive the gifts I gave to them. Hopefully, the memories we made together will live on in the minds and hearts of everyone involved.
For my part, however, one memory will stand out above all the others. That was the special blessing I had of seeing my oldest grandson take communion for the very first time as we all attended the annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion Service at church.
My wife I were unable to go forward and receive communion ourselves. But that was only because we willingly took the responsibility of staying back and sitting with the younger grandsons, the smallest of was sick with a cold, and coughing continuously.
We did not do this in order to boast about it. We simply did so because I thought it was the proper thing to do. That is to say, we gladly did it so that our daughter and her husband could go forward with their eldest son and, together, take communion as a family.
By now, you have probably surmised, quite correctly, that I caught my youngest grandson’s cold. But I would gladly endure the discomfort and distress I have undergone overt eh last week for the memory of seeing my grandson take his first communion. I will carry that memory with me throughout the remainder of my life.
In the process, of course, I have both been reminded that it is indeed much more blessed to give than to receive! For perhaps, this entire episode is but a small reflection of the whole purpose of Christmas. I remind you that the Bible tells us that Christmas is ultimately about Christ giving Himself to become a sacrifice in order that we might be made whole and enter into the presence of our Heavenly Father.
Thus, the Apostle Paul tells us (in his First New Testament Letter to the Corinthians (chapter 3) that Christ came into this world, suffered, died, and was raised again to life, all on our behalf. The writer of the New Testament Book of Hebrews further tells us (in chapter 4) that Jesus is our High Priest, Who sacrificed Himself that we may “approach the throne of God’s grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us”.
Together, these two passages sum up God’s great Christmas gift to us in Christ Jesus. And together, they also remind us of what we can and should do for others, especially at Christmas.
And so, my friend, if Christ has sacrificed so much for me, then I will gladly suffer a little in order for my grandson to grow in his relationship with the Lord. For the memory of my recent sickness will soon be forgotten; but the memory of seeing my grandson take his first communion will stay with me forever.
And I trust that the Lord will continue to give me many more opportunities to sacrifice on behalf of him, his siblings, and his cousins in the coming year. That will be blessing enough for me!
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/niv/1_corinthians/15.htm#footnotes;
https://biblehub.com/niv/hebrews/4.htm.