November 29, 2007
A Green Christmas...
When we talk about a "green" Christmas, we're not talking about jumping on the green and white of the Saskatchewan Roughrider "Grey Cup Champions" bandwagon (though that is not at all discouraged). We're also not talking about a political statement on environmental issues. Nor are we speaking about all the "greenbacks" that the consumer side of Christmas seem to take out of us.
Green is a color that symbolizes many things - but most importantly, and the focus of this season, is the image of life and hope and growth that gets at the core of what Christmas is all about. The life that is found in Jesus Christ. Green is about LIFE.
There are all kinds of things that can suck the life out of us. We feel it in the pressures of our work life that never seem to subside but only increase. We can experience it in the pain of disappointment of relationships, grieving a significant loss in our life, or even experiencing the failure of our bodies and our health. For those who are people pleasers, the expectations of others can eventually run you dry and suck the life right out of you. The list can be long and it's a personal list that's different for everyone of us - what sucks the life out of you?
Part of our challenge, as Paul point out in 1 Cor 13 is that right now "we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror"... and that all we know now is partial and incomplete, though one day we will know so much more and we'll see things completely, just as God knows us completely right now. Be encouraged in that this Christmas season - God knows you COMPLETELY. That means he knows your limitations and temptations, he knows your strengths and vulnerabilities, he knows all your circumstances - even the ones that suck life out of you. But there are some things that last forever, that can be counted on regardless of how we might feel - those are faith, hope, and love. The greatest one is the life changing, life breathing love of God. He invites us to embrace these gifts from him and to live them out in the lives of others around us - even though it always seems partial and incomplete. When we do, we begin to experience life - we grow, we change, and we begin to find hope again. God invites you to go green this Christmas - he'll make you into a new creation.
Posted by Bruce Enns at November 29, 2007 12:24 PM
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