Boasting the right way!

I had two friends, let me call them Joe & Bob. They loved “HO” model Trains. One of them worked hard washing cars, mowing lawns, etc. and bought parts a little at a time. After a year Joe and his dad built a full layout. It was incredible and took up most of the room it was placed in. We all loved visiting and watching the various ways it would work. Then Bob invited us to his house, his setup dwarfed Joe’s! His dad bought it ready-made, had it delivered and set up. I remember as Bob boasted about his town and train, I thought to myself…well, let me not lie…I thought “I wish my dad would get me one like this!”…but then I thought, “Big Whoop”! Anyone can buy it…but to build it with your own sweat, that is something worth boasting about!

Ephesians 2:8–9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

καυχάομαι kaucháomai; - To boast, glory, exult, both in a good and bad sense.

One of the priorities I made as a parent was to teach my kids the “Two R’s”. Religion vs. Relationship! This passage is so important because humans are driven by the enemy and their own flesh to believe their works can bring them into relationship with their Creator. What is so great about this passage is the man who wrote it was a Pharisee which was a very high position in a religious system. Paul had perfected his works thinking that would WORK to secure eternity with God.

When he came to the end of himself and was broken, he humbly accepted God’s grace. Later in life, he could boast in a healthy way. Glorying in what God had done and how God used him to share God’s unending love to all that want it.

The essence of Christmas is God’s gift of His son to fallen men. No matter what cultural ways Christmas is celebrated, i.e. presents, ribbons, decorations, lights and a tree, the birth of Christ is the center and should remain the focus.

How appropriately that the celebration includes a tree, because that is where the gift led to.

A tree where the Godman was put to death, because of jealousy of men, BUT in reality, because God So Loved US, that He sent His Son to pay our debt.  

If your Christmas is centered on anything else, you have missed the point, and more importantly, are missing the relationship and fellowship the Creator of the universe desires to have with you.

The So What: Stop moving, take a breath, and ponder that an Awesome, Almighty, Being desires to share His life with you forever. Have you ever consciously told God you desire to accept His gift and ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and make you a child of God? He has done everything…except that! He gives you the freedom to receive or reject Him.