There seem to be an endless number of TV shows on at the moment, giving you advice about how to get ready for Christmas day. Most of them are about cooking and making sure you get everything right for the big meal! The cardinal sin at this time of the year seems to be over cooking the poor turkey!
Well as we saw yesterday God's man to prepare the way for Christmas was John the Baptist. From what we know of his diet he was no celebrity chef! But what was John's step by step guide to preparing for Christmas and the arrival of Jesus the Son of God? Well John sums it up in one word 'Repent.' Unsurprisingly for John it's not exactly the most Christmasy of words. But as we know John wasn't one for compromising.
Repentance has at its heart the idea of a complete turn around in the way that we think and act. It's a complete U turn, from relying and trusting in ourselves to transferring all of that reliance and trust to Jesus. It's easy for us to think that repentance is only something that we do when we first become Christians. But it was Martin Luther who reminded us in the first of his 95 thesis that 'When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said "Repent," he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.' It's amazing to think that when there was so much at stake for Luther and so much wrong with the church that he chose this to be his first point on the page that he nailed to the Wittenberg church door.
Bible
During the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Luke 3:2-3,7
I think John and Luther were right. Once we get past the shock of a not so Christmasy message we know they are right. The Christian life must be an ongoing turning of our hearts to Christ knowing that we cannot live the life that we should, through our own efforts. Repentance is not something we can leave behind at the beginning of our spiritual journey. And when we consider the heart of the Christmas message, that God's salvation plan had finally appeared for us, repentance seems the only appropriate response.
Prayer
Lord Jesus repentance is definitely not something that comes naturally to us. But when we contemplate the generosity of your coming and the remarkable life you were about to begin, we know how far we fall short. We want to surrender our hearts at this time of year and ask that you would turn us once again to you and fill us with the transforming power of your Spirit. Amen
Steve
for
Kruger
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