Christmas day is getting so close! Everyone I talk to is busy making final preparations for Christmas next week. Lots of people are getting ready to gather together with family members and friends, and to feast on meals that have been planned out for quite a while.
It’s often easy to lose the real meaning of Christmas in all of the busyness that comes along with the holiday season. As we prepare to celebrate Christ coming to earth in flesh I am reminded of someone else who spent their life preparing the way ahead of Christ.
John the Baptist.
Before John was even conceived, Gabriel told Zechariah what John’s purpose would be. In Luke 1:16-17, Gabriel says about John, “He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous – to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” True to God’s word delivered by Gabriel, this is exactly what John did with his life.
As Christians, we too are called to prepare people. Matthew 28:16-20 Jesus speaks the words that have come to be known as the great commission to His disciples, “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”
We have a very similar call on our lives as Christians to what John the Baptist had on his life.
While John the Baptist worked in the spirit and power of Elijah, we have the Holy Spirit and his power.
This Christmas season that rolls around every 12 months reminds us of why we celebrate – because Jesus, God’s own son, came to earth and lived with mankind. He came to redeem us.
Each and every one of us who professes faith in Jesus Christ has a call to make disciples. Fortunately we don’t have to do it on our own, Jesus is with us (see the scripture from Matthew above) and we have the power of the Holy Spirit with us as well.
We don’t have the luxury of time to procrastinate on our call because we don’t know how long any of us has on this earth. While you may be here tomorrow, the person you just crossed paths with today may not be. Watching the news, I am constantly reminded of how fragile and fleeting life is. I hope we have a lot of time to tell the world about Jesus, however, there are no guarantees about how much time we have.
This Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, I would encourage you to embrace your call as a Christian. To draw close to God, to pray for boldness and to listen for the prompting of the Holy Spirit as He brings opportunities across your path.
Be blessed.