Christmas Day is just two days away, where we celebrate the birth of Jesus on earth, the Messiah that was promised in the prophets. Out of the celebration of that amazing gift, we have a tradition where we give and receive gifts with our loved ones. Can you imagine someone you love giving you a gift and you take it and receive it and put it in your closet, never opening it or using it? That is what we do when we have come to faith in Christ, but then try to live righteously without trusting Him for right living.
The gift that Christ gave us through his birth and death on the cross was salvation. All of salvation. When we think of salvation, we are so often thinking of the part of salvation where God declared us innocent because Jesus took all of our sins to the grave and paid that penalty for us. But, salvation also includes where our dead spirit was exchanged for the living Spirit of Christ and we enter into a life-long process of Christ making us holy by working in and through our lives. Have you received and put to use the whole gift of salvation or just the part that keeps you out of hell?
Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation].Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30 AMP).” I have spent many of my years as a Christian looking for where I may serve, what I may do for God, trying to live righteously, etc. But Jesus said we should rest in Him. That does not mean that we sit around and do nothing, but rather we begin to use the other half of the gift of salvation He gave us and trust Christ in us to do that work. Rather than focusing on what we are to do for God, we should be focusing on Christ and getting to know Him more intimately and as we do He will work through our bodies to put us where He wants us and give us words He wants us to say and actions He wants us to take. When we look for what we think God wants us to do rather than trusting Him to bring it to us, we are taking control back from Him and will burn ourselves out trying to accomplish things only God can do and all that we do will be works of the flesh. When we are focusing on our relationship with Christ rather than what we should do for God, we will have times of doing even more than we would if we were looking for how to serve God, but we will still be in a state of rest because it is Christ doing the work through us than us doing the work ourselves and he will strengthen us to accomplish what He has given us to do.
Some examples from the Bible….. Abraham wasn’t praying about whether he should leave everything and go to the promised land — God just came to him and told him to go to the place He would show him and he went. Moses…. he had already tried fighting in his own power to free the Israelites from the bondage of slavery and it put him running in exile for his life. But, when he was focusing on his relationship with God, he wasn’t praying about whether he should go back and perform all of these miracles — God just showed up in a burning bush and gave him specific instructions and words.
Are you exhausted spiritually? Stop wearing yourself out filling positions that you think need you and trust Christ. Are you frustrated because you want to be serving Christ but don’t yet know what to do? Seek Him and get to know Christ and at the right time and in the right way He will put you where He wants you to accomplish His will. So in this season where we celebrate the earthly birth of our Savior, take the time to rest in Him and allow Christ to live His life through you rather than you trying to do things for Him. It is a gift — receive it, use it, and stop trying to pay for part of it.
Merry Christmas!
In Christ,
Ben