Thought for Wednesday, 22 November

 Romans 8:9-11

⁹ But you are not controlled by your sinful nature.

You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) ¹⁰ And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. ¹¹ The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

The bangs of the fireworks have just died away and already, Christmas trees and light decorations are beginning to appear.  Shops have been selling artificial trees and the decorations to adorn them for quite a wee while now.  If you go into some of the garden centres in the Clyde Valley, the displays are quite spectacular, as are some of the prices attached to these said items of seasonal decoration.  It might just be my imagination but as each year passes, it is becoming harder and harder to find a decoration which points to or reminds us of that first Christmas at Bethlehem.

It's a similar story with Christmas Greeting cards.  For some, Happy Christmas has become Happy Holidays and the Christmas cards that used to have pictures of a manger, of shepherds, of wise men, of a baby, of a star, of a stable are becoming fewer and fewer.

Have you ever stopped to consider what prompted changes such as this to be introduced?  What was it that made the people responsible for the stock that occupies our Christmas shelves move away from the wonderful Bethlehem story?  Do they think that this winter holiday time would be more enjoyable without all that stuff that happened over two thousand years ago?  The change didn’t come dramatically or instantly, it’s been gradually introduced over the years.  Was there indeed an external force that set society on this alternative path?  It makes you think, does it not? Just as God has a plan, it would appear that there is another plan being implemented, a plan that will make us stumble and ultimately separate us from God.

Every one of us needs Jesus not only at Christmas but in every day of or lives.  What greater gift could we have than that Holy Spirit living within us, evidenced by the way we treat and react to others.  We know that each one of us will have  trials and challenges in this world but if we open our hearts and minds to his Holy Spirit, we will have him to turn to in this life and a sure and certain hope for what comes after.

Prayer – Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank you that the Spirit of him who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead is living in us, and because he lives, we too will receive His immortal life. We thank you that the one who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in us. May we never lose the wonder of this truth, and we pray that we will never become complacent or lukewarm about this great salvation. Open the eyes of those who have been blinded by the attractions of this world and make them aware of their need for a Saviour, that Saviour being Christ the Lord. This we ask in Jesus' name, Amen.