Holidays

Happy Holidays?

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Christmas-giftsWhile walking the aisles of a home improvement store, I was miffed by the sight of a wreath emblazoned with two words:  Happy Holidays. This frustrates me because it’s an impotent message that castrates Christmas of it’s substantial significance.

Christmas is not in need of some slick marketing campaign; it’s message might be centuries old, but it’s hardly antiquated.

The secularization of Christmas reminds me of the wise words of Benjamin Franklin: How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, His precepts!

The message of Christmas is filled with love and full of hope. God loved us so much that He gave us the gift of His son and as Phillips Brooks said in O Little Town of Bethlehem: The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

The hope of Christmas is not some neatly wrapped gift that is placed under a tree. It is the gift of Jesus—the baby of Bethlehem.

As the day of Christ’s birth draws closer, I encourage you to give some thought to these words of Peter: Prepare your minds for action, keep a clear head, and set your hope completely on the grace to be given you when Jesus, the Messiah, is revealed (I Peter 1:13).

Merry Christmas!

Halloween: A Curse for the Nyctophobic

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afraid-of-the-dark-copy21Some people love the night and its darkness, and there are others who are petrified of the dark. If you have a strong aversion to the night, you might have nyctophobia—the fear of night or darkness.

When you consider the biblical contrast between light and darkness, you can see that it might make good sense to be nyctophobic spiritually–to hate the darkness:

• Jesus said some people love the darkness than the light because their deeds are evil (John 3:19-21).
• In John 8:12, you can find one of the “I Am” statements of Jesus: I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.
• In Romans 13:11-13, Paul said we need to be aware of the time and be ready to discard the deeds of darkness.
• When he wrote to the church at Ephesus, Paul encouraged them to “Walk as children of the light (Ephesians 5:7-9, 11).”
• In a time of horrible persecution, Peter reminded believers that God has “called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (I Peter 2:9-10).”
• According to John, loving the light and shunning the darkness is the key to walking with God: “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth (I John 1:4-6).”

The opposite of nyctophobia is photophobia—a symptom of intolerance to the visual perception of light. Are you more tolerant spiritually to the dark or to the light? Because they are polar opposites, light and darkness cannot coexist.

Jesus discussed the issue of light and darkness with his disciples: “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).”

I encourage you to be the light in this world of darkness.