Ransom

​I spent an hour and a half trying to travel two miles after an ice-storm struck Portland and stranded Christmas shoppers. Storms have an amazing ability to put things into perspective.  What fragile creatures we truly are!  In a power outage, people quit arguing over the appropriateness of “Happy Holidays” versus “Merry Christmas” and start thinking about staying warm.   Buying presents takes a back seat to getting home without skidding off the road.   Lights of every color some blinking some just brilliant, trees gaily decorated with trinkets and memorabilia, they are all nice.  But they won’t keep me alive.  Then it hit me, the real meaning of Christmas is LIFE!   In the gathering storm, can we see that our survival is what God is after and not our need to enjoy His Son in diapers?  Can we recognize that our happiness came at a horrific cost—a holy ransom!  

Meditation
Psalm 49:7,8--Yet these cannot redeem a person or pay his ransom to God—since the price of redeeming him is too costly, one should forever stop trying.
Mark 10:45--For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life—a ransom for many.
 
We come to a season where reason is heated, 
            and arguments rise to the top of the charts. 
The crib with its Child if honored in public 
            turns some into snarling, unhappy hearts.
Their holiday wish is to leave out religion 
            and not have to listen to carolers sing.
They care not for wise men or Bethlehem manger, 
            just leave them with Santa and all that he brings.
 
We come to a season where none can offend, 
            so nothing is gained and nothing is won. 
Convictions are muted to ruffle no feathers 
            ‘til soon Silent Night will no longer be sung.
Lost in the battle for who should be heard 
            is the very foundation of what gives us might
Freedom to worship in pure, humble expression
            is what turns our land to a beacon of light.
 
Maybe the Baby is the source of our focus 
            but surely the Lord is the need of our souls.  
He came to this earth with a mission to save us, 
            a ransom that only He could pay in full.
In the midst of our tidings of yuletide and cheer 
            we ought to remember the cost God endured.
For Jesus the King did not come to be served 
            but to give up His life as a payment secured.
 
We live in a season with war all-surrounding 
            and now is the time when the battle is here;
To raise up the standard that most holy guidon; 
            proclaim to the world that His coming is near.
For God Who so loved us that He offered His Son, 
            calls us who believe Him to go out and share.  
At issue is not whether ears are offended 
            but that sin is conquered in answer to prayer.
 
This Christmas, let’s thank God for giving us life, for ransoming His Son to save us.  
 
Inspiration
It is easy if I reason from the logical common-sense point of view, to say that God created the man who became a sinner, and then condemns him to hell because he sinned. The Bible says nothing of the sort. The Bible says that God Himself accepted the responsibility for sin; the Cross is the proof that He did. It cost Jesus Christ to the last drop of blood to deal with “the vast evil of the world.” The true portrayal is that the Cross is not the cross of a man, but the Cross of God. The tragedy of the Cross is the hurt to God.—Oswald Chambers in Conformed to His Image
 
©2005 Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)