I have tried three times to write this post. I have been a little distracted by it. It is not necessarily writers block nor a lack of idea. There is a lot I could say about this passage but I want to relate something that will hopefully help each of us as we look at it together.
The Christmas holiday season is a very busy time. So busy that it can keep a person from honestly dealing with their life. I find it so easy to fall into the Christmas craze of buying the right gifts (or gift card for the lazy ones).
I took my family to New York for Thanksgiving this year. We spent three days there taking in as many sights as the kids could stand. New York is exactly what I am trying to describe about this holiday. Just walk down 5th Avenue and you will see the multitudes of decorated windows and of lights strung wherever allowed. Macy's has some fantastic windows over near Times Square (or is that in Times Sq?).
Everything was crying out buy here, buy now, buy this, buy that or you will be the one who did not get the perfect gift. We entered the three story Toys-R-Us and let the kids ride the Ferris wheel. We went into the Mars store (M&M's galore!). We stood outside of the Hershey's store. We watched thousands of people walking the streets in order to hunt down the perfect gift for the perfect price.
We went to ground zero. We saw the gigantic empty hole that was being cleaned up by huge earth moving vehicles. There is very little that seems to stand out as if to say - the Trade Center fell here.
All along the way as we walked the streets we hear the ringing of little bells as the bell handlers greet people with a "Merry Christmas" at their collection posts. Then we walk by two or three quoting death and damnation scripture to anyone who looked their way.
New York is a very busy place. I watched our friend as she guided us through the streets. She took notice of nothing. She had seen it before and the newness had fallen away. The buildings were just that - buildings.
Tourists like myself stopped and ogled the feats of mankind and the beauty that intertwined with the dirty streets and polished look of the newest towers. It was new and fresh to me.
The people of Thessalonica were facing people who had become so bored with the amazing beauty that a relationship with Jesus offers that they began to pervert it for their own pleasure. Paul used this passage to remind the people to stop and look around and stand firm on the teachings that kept that beautiful relationship with God as their foremost thought.
When we buy into the commercialized frenzy our society calls Christmas, we can become so caught up in the feeling of a false joy that we have worked all year to experience. Just think about it. Why do so many feel "blue" in January? They have put so much into the Christmas feeling that they trade everything just to get that feeling once a year. Then when the moment is gone there is a sense of loss.
We do not have to be lost in that empty post Christmas feeling. Comfort comes in establishing and maintaining and growing a relationship with God through Jesus. So many say that Jesus is the reason for the season. This is true but He does not just pay attention to us during seasons. He is with us all the time, and Christmas is supposed to highlight that fact.
Paul's hope for the Thessalonians was that they would take time to remember to examine their lifestyles and remember to make room for Jesus in their life. For them not to shut Jesus out because they do not want Him to ruin their fun.
Jesus is just the opposite of a fun killer. His relationship with us is for us to experience true love and consolation and a good hope. Do not become debilitated by false hope. Life with Jesus brings fresh and new experiences everyday. We just have to stop and look. Live life with expectancy, and Jesus will not disappoint you!
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