Gold and Blue

Devotional for December 24-30, 2007

 

Day One                Anticipating Giving

The PTA at the grade school our younger three children attend holds a fundraiser each year just before Christmas break.  This fundraiser involves a store for the children to come to where they can purchase inexpensive gifts for their parents and other loved ones.  It has proven to be very popular with the children as the PTA strives to provide items that the children are excited to give and yet are at a price that they can afford.  This year our younger three children could not wait until it was their day at the store.  They saved their money and manipulated an additional amount out of their push over of a dad and planned their day of Christmas shopping.  As I picked them up after school on their shopping day they ran to the car with bags in hand (the PTA even wrapped the gifts for the children).  As we got in the car they began to describe their excitement about the gifts they had chosen for their siblings as well as for Andrea and myself. It was all they could do to not tell me what they had purchased for me.  As the days have progressed, keeping their secret has become even more impossible.  They cannot wait to give their gifts to those they love and are impatiently awaiting and anticipating the moment when they finally get to give their gifts.  It is an anticipation that is almost unbearable!

 

There were a group of men who were anxiously awaiting their time to present their chosen gifts just as my children cannot wait until they get to give.  We know these men as the Magi, or the wise men.  They were men who had read the prophesies and had studied the stars, awaiting the moment when they would be given the opportunity to give their chosen gifts to the promised Messiah.  Read their story in Matthew 2: 1-12.  What do you notice about their journey and their gifts?

 

 

 

Two things in particular about their gifts were that they took some time to arrive and that they were of value.  What is even more significant about these gifts is that they were an act of worship and tribute to the Messiah.

 

What is your gift of worship and tribute this Christmas season?

 

 

 

Day Two     The Christmas Story

Today is Christmas; take a moment to read the Christmas Story as told in Luke 2:1-20.  Enjoy the day and remember the truth of the celebration!

 

 

Day Three  An Analogy

I will go ahead and admit it right now, my story today is going to give all of you even more reason than ever to give me a hard time about the University I chose to attend.  When I was a sophomore at Oklahoma State University I took a required introductory psychology class.  This class was a large lecture room in the Meat Lab (this building has since been torn down, but was then the building where the Agricultural majors would learn to judge and critique meat, yes meat).  This lecture room was pretty ordinary except that it was usually much colder than other classrooms on campus with the other unusual aspect being the large window that stood at the front of the classroom.  This window was supposed to have the blinds pulled but very frequently the blinds would be left open.  A large window in front of a classroom would not usually be that unusual except for the fact that this window was the window into the actual meat locker.  When the blinds were left open the class would sit and look at large dead and skinless animals hanging from hooks.  These animals were most usually cows.  The other interesting thing about this class was that the professor seemed to only be able to discuss psychology as it pertained to human sexuality.  His teaching of this subject seemed to so dehumanize humans that one day I could not help but sit and look at the hanging animal carcasses and consider the analogy of his teaching and what was hanging behind him. 

 

This story now brings me to a much more weighty and worthy of consideration analogy.

 

Look back at our story about the Magi, the wise men, from Monday in Matthew 2:1-11.  There were three things that were significant about their journey and their gifts. The first thing is that they had looked forward and anticipated the moment that they would be able to see the Messiah and give their gifts.  The second thing is that their gifts and their journey was a reflection of their hearts and their desire to worship and see the Messiah.  The third thing is that their gifts, as well as their journey, were a sacrifice. The gifts were a sacrifice materially, but also required a sacrifice of themselves.  They actually risked their lives in disobeying the King when they gave the gifts.

The analogy is that the gift that Christ gave us has these same aspects.  His gift was anticipated by God.  God had prepared the world for this gift and had educated and enlightened the world so that we were ready at the exact right time.  God looked forward to giving this gift.  This gift was also a reflection of God’s heart, it revealed His love for us.  Finally, this gift was a sacrifice, a sacrifice of His only Son (John 3:16).

 

Take a moment to think on this gift today.

 

Day Four    A New Direction

In 1997 I went on a mission trip to Japan where I met a young lady who was serving there on a short term mission (two years).  This young lady was named Erin and she was probably one of the most ornery people I have ever known.  Sensing my own discomfort in being in a strange land and unable to communicate, she would love to embarrass me at every opportunity.  On one day she took our group on a sightseeing tour of Kobe, Japan, I spent much of the day red faced as she would set me up for humiliation after humiliation.  Even though I wanted to strangle her frequently throughout the trip I also gained a great admiration for her and her willingness to follow God.  Her story was one of constant sacrifice in order to follow God.  As I continued to hear her story in years after my time in Japan, I saw even more of her total surrender to go wherever God would lead her.  About eight years ago I opened up a Christian magazine where I found another story of Erin and her latest following God adventure.  In this story she had been serving in China and had been involved in a plane crash that killed several passengers and landed her in the hospital with serious wounds. What was amazing about this story is that as soon as she was well enough, she was back on the road to China following God.

 

Joseph had this same type of willingness to follow.  You will remember that he chose to go ahead and marry his fiancé, Mary even though she was pregnant with a child that was not his own, because God instructed him to do so.  Following God in this way changed his standing in his community and forever changed his life and his plans.  Read how he had to continue to follow even after the birth of Christ (Matthew 2:13-18).  What do you imagine were the sacrifices that Joseph made in following God this time?

 

 

What were the rewards?

 

 

Joseph followed God and lived, and not only was his life spared but the life of Mary and Jesus.  How willing are you to follow even when it may require sacrifice?

 

 

Day Five     A New Reputation

I grew up in church and went to High School with a very sweet girl named Roxanne.  Roxanne was a very quiet girl who never really drew attention to herself or even her accomplishments.  One Sunday in church we were all very surprised when she was called to the stage during worship to receive a life time Sunday School attendance award. Apparently, since she had started coming to church as an infant, she had never missed a Sunday.  None of us even knew that this was a possibility or that anyone was recording such things.  We were all shocked that quiet Roxanne had received this award and had never made any prior mention of this feat.  We were actually not all that surprised though since this was the way Roxanne was, not one to draw attention to herself.  Over a decade later I was at a youth fellowship in Colorado Springs where many of the youth had started watching the Mrs. America pageant.  I think many of the youth were interested because none of us even knew that such an event existed.  As you can imagine some of the youth, mainly the boys, made fun of certain things in the pageant but it still managed to keep the interest of the young people.  As we were watching I suddenly realized that Mrs. Oklahoma was none other than quiet Roxanne.  There she was being anything but quiet and no longer hiding in a corner so that no one would see her!  None of the young people at the fellowship would accept the fact that I knew this woman, and they were even less willing to believe that she had been a friend of mine.  Nevertheless, this was a much different Roxanne than I had known in High School!

 

Sometimes we change. Sometimes, God changes us.  Read about the reputation change that occurred to Joseph, Mary, and especially Jesus in Matthew 2:19-23.  We see that Jesus would now be called a Nazarene.  We also see that this fulfilled prophecy.  Jesus was identified in the way God had said through the prophets.  This change did not change who He was, it just changed his reputation, how others looked at Him and identified Him.

 

The truth is that Roxanne was probably always the pageant Roxanne, but none of us ever knew this, possibly neither did she.  It was not known until she decided to go to that place, to that pageant place (wherever that is).  Jesus was the same but now he was known by what God had said, He was a Nazarene.  It was Him all along, but now others saw it as well.

 

God makes us and re-identifies us when we are willing to allow Him to lead and direct us.  What reputation does God want the world to identify with you?

 

 

How is He leading you to the place for that identification?