Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Christmas betrays its pagan origin as a holiday in that it inspires materialism never seen throughout the year. It's always what can we buy in order to satisfy our corporate self-centered cravings.
If you had been living in 4 B.C. and you knew (like the wise men from the East) that Jesus is born in Bethlehem, would you bring gifts to Him?Giving gifts for ourselves is foreign to the story of Bethlehem.
But it is universal, and it would not be wise to challenge it for the sake of the children whose disappointment would be almost impossible to relieve; but we can tell them the true story and ask the Lord to help us teach them so they don't grow up egocentric materialists. The Lord will help us save our children.
There is a delightful story in John 4 that we can teach: Jesus has gone on a long journey with His disciples, having taken a short cut to Galilee that goes through Samaria (where Jews feel unwelcome). They have come to a town called Sychar. John tells us that Jesus was hot and tired, and of course, thirsty. (In His incarnation, He was forbidden to create for Himself a drinking fountain.) He sits down at Jacob's famous well, hoping someone will give him a drink. Here He is, the Creator of heaven and earth, helplessly dependent on some human's generosity!
The disciples have gone to the market to buy some food to relieve their hunger, and that of Jesus. A lady comes at this noontime to draw water (but she doesn't want to mingle with the other women; she has had an unfortunate marital problem and wants to come when there is no one else there because of the heat). She bumps into Jesus who humbly asks her for a drink instead of waiting for some Jew to give him a drink; He is not ashamed to request a favor from a Samaritan (despised by the Jews).
The disciples then come back with their groceries, and paint us a delightful little picture: in the King James Version, they "pray a prayer" to Jesus that is in reverse gear from all the prayers we are so wont to pray: instead of asking Him to feed them, they pray "Master [You] eat!" (vs. 31).
It's time we learned to think of the need that Jesus has for Himself. Principally, He longs for His Bride-to-be to repent and give Him her heart--in corporate consecration and repentance.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 14, 2007.
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