Christmas Reflections

As with most things that will end up being posted on my blog, this is not an original idea. The preacher at my home church, Hillside, did his Christmas series on "The Tale of Two Trees." The majority of this devotion and reflection comes from that series and especially the Christmas Eve wrap-up.

In the story of Jesus, there are two family trees. The first, Jesus' ancestry, is recorded in Matthew 1 and is full of people has issues such as lying, conspiracy, adultery, murder, and many other sins. In spite of the sins and failures in their lives, God was still able use them and make them a part of his plan and the line of the Messiah.

The second tree is a line of descendants. Of course, this is a spiritual family (unless you want to go all Davinci Code). In John 1, we read that we have the ability to become a part of the family of God, if we believe in Christ. Every person since the time of the apostles that has submitted to Christ has become a part of this tree. Much like the first tree, this line of spiritual descendants is full of cases of sin and failure in people's lives, in both your life and mine.

These two trees are bridged by yet another tree. In 1 Peter 2, it says that Jesus Christ suffered under our sins on a tree, so that we could in fact become a part of his family, and proclaim His name to those that are around us, so that the family and the Kingdom of God could continue to grow and the cause of the Gospel of Jesus Christ be furthered around the World.

I realize that this a day late for Christmas celebrations, but many people will continue to have family gatherings throughout the rest of the week, so I hope that it will provide some encouragement throughout the rest of the holiday season.