"Oh you don't believe in Christmas huh Dave?"

My friends quite often have this question following immediately after wishing me a "Merry Christmas". Now there are so many ways I can answer this question. But I'll address it in the following two points.

1. Yes I do believe in Christmas, the whole world celebrates it on the 25th of December of every year and the evidence is quite clear that Christmas takes place on that date.

Do I believe that Jesus was born on that date? No absolutely not. The evidence of His birthday would suggest a different date. But I have never spent any huge amount of time to pinpoint the exact time, because nowhere in the Bible does it teach to celebrate His birth. He makes it quite clear that the only holy/holi-days we should commemorate are the weekly Sabbaths and communion dates which haven't been allocated any special dates to "...do this in remembrance of me" 1 Corinthians 11:24.

I actually appreciate that the world takes time to be open to hear/see and learn of the story of the birth of Christ. It could be the only part of the Bible that some people ever get exposed to, but even that's a great start for those who don't know Him as the greatest gift that the Father gave to humankind. And as a Christian I would take full advantage of this time to speak of Jesus Christ that would otherwise fall on deaf ears at any other time of the year.

2. Why would I celebrate that day if I don't believe that Jesus was born  on that date? Because the secular world recognises it as a holiday, and I get to spend time with family and friends because they have time off from work and school etc. (But even them working on Christmas days are becoming more frequent). My family and friends who observe the Sabbath like me get to do this on a weekly basis. We get together, worship Christ, hear from his word and have a great time together. If you could experience what happens on Christmas day more often than just that one time in the year? Wouldn't you grab the opportunity? Family time is divine. And there is never a time where I compromise my faith by spending time with family and friends.

I believe the awesomeness of Christmas is not the receiving of gifts, rather the "giving" of gifts!. A huge reminder to all of us that "freely we have received, freely give" - Matt 10:8. Starting with your family and friends is easy. But why not take time out to learn about those who dread Christmas because they have no family left, or worse yet have no friends? Why not take time out to search these people out and give? And there are plenty of local charities where you can donate funds, toys, food etc in times like these.

Do I take full advantage of this as well? Absolutely, my Son is challenged to consider other children his age who are not as privileged and to give away without receiving. If you're a parent, you would be wise to do the same, compassion is a character trait too scarce in society.

Do you believe in Christmas?

Shalom,

Dave

Reflections

James 1:22-25 - ²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Mirrors - who used a mirror this morning? And what did you use the mirror for?

Yes we use the mirror to check ourselves, hopefully look good, try our best.....hopefully. If not to impress ourselves, maybe another, maybe a whole group, but in essence to check ourselves, and if any flaws be found.....we make the appropriate adjustments to alter the fault. Maybe it a flick of the hair, or a tucking in of the shirt, a failing strap that will hold steady on a prayer. But in essence to check ourselves, to reflect on how we look.

Now the text says that after looking in the mirror, we forget what we look like, but if we look into the perfect law that gives freedom, yea the perfect mirror we will continue in it.......continue in it......continue in it...do you get it? When looking for a mirror, we should look for a perfect mirror, for a perfect mirror will reflect a true reflection when we look into the mirror. We should not try to source a mirror that was once used at an amusement park which skews and distorts our true image, for if we look in that mirror, we get a "false" reflection on who we are, and the reflection is an error? And in essence we cannot check ourselves to reflect on how we look.

How pray tell, is the law like a mirror? Romans 3:²⁰ Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

Our inner most desire is to be attracted to people who reflect ourselves. Ladies have you ever heard yourself say "I love him because I can be myself around Him" and men we would say "I like that guy coz he's real with me, he doesn't beat around the bush" Kids........teens more to the point, you love your parents...honestly you really do, but you hate the fact that they point out your true condition.......right?

Take heed, you should choose your friends, and even more so your boyfriend and girlfriends with a fine toothcomb. Because a true friend would tell you where you're falling short. They wouldn't sugar coat the true message because they care about your condition. Those friends, let me take a clause here to warn you that you may not like the following statements, but those friends, that give you a false reflection of yourself, the ones that distort your image and even pull you further away from the perfect law, that you are unable to even capture an image of yourself, those friends you need to cut off. Cling to the friends that huddle around the mirror, that are willing to adjust your hair, remove the bogey that you couldn't see, tell you your shirt is hanging out and tuck it in for you, keep those friends close, they will help you with the ability to check yourself and reflect on how you look.

The Bible text tells us that looking into the perfect law and admiring or God forbid moping and crying at the reflection will not save you neither condemn you, rather the law only acts as an indicator, a ruler, a measure of your true image. It awakens the conscious to wrong doing.

You've finished your spaghetti bolognaise in the food court in Hyperdome, and you make your way to best and less to purchase some much needed clothing.....so you can look good. On your way to the store, in the store and even the girl at the counter all give you a strange stare. You're finally driven to find out what could possibly be wrong with you, so you rush to the toilet and take a good look into the ??? And lo and behold, a nice strand of spaghetti is hanging from your chin.

From the time that spaghetti decided to be apart of your face to the time of surgery, the only time you were truly aware was when you looked into the mirror. It took you to look into the mirror in order to become conscious of your sin. Do you get me? We have so much filth that has piggy backed, hitch hiked and hijacked our journey in life. And we are not so much aware of it until we take a good look into the mirror. Suddenly it's a revelation!

Sokha and I recently discussed and have implemented a Chore Board for our Son Uriah who is now four. It basically will outline the days of the week across the top of the board, and down the side, the chores that are expected to be completed on that particular day. As a chore is completed and felt animal cut out will be stuck on the velcro patch of that particular spot for him to reflect on. I received some advice from a Dad in our church whom I believe has raised fantastic kids as to what his method was. He said he would reward his children with a monetary reward according to their age. Well Sokha and I discussed it, prayed about it and chewed on Biblical counsel. My initial thought was I don't want to introduce my son to a system where he is rewarded upon performance, but further inquiry into the perfect law brought me to this conclusion. The chore board is to act as a mechanism to awaken the conscious of sin for my son, the physical, appearance and reminder of this tangible piece of craft is for that purpose only, to keep a young mind accountable, as the abstract understanding is not yet formed for Uriah is only 4 years old!

The chore board from Sokha and me is not to make my Son yea our growing daughter too, slaves to our little home, God forbid! It is to help our kids realise that there a rules to adhere to, and these rules are but a mere reflection of Dad and Mums character. Dad and Mum have an incredible abstract appreciation on how rules protect the relationship, but our child doesn't. The more our kids look and obey the rules of the household, the more they will understand Dad and Mum. I don't need to harp on this as Pastor already covered Disciplining our children in last week's sermon.

Did you know God's law existed before Creation? The law of God governs heaven, and there was no need for it to be spelt out in ten specific stipulations. It ran on relationships and the understanding of it. When you're a child, you grow up to understand how your father and mother tick, what makes them happy and what doesn't. And you either use it please them intentionally or to manipulate the situations for selfish gain. The same goes for married couples, you become so familiar with each other that you can finish the other's sentence, and if you're anything like my wife and me, you find you start to imitate some of your spouse's words and behaviours, you should hear Sokha speak samoan sometimes, it's funny! And my little cambodian sounds for certain commands, we become like each other. And if you're a loving child or a loving spouse, you would have the motive of doing everything to please your parent or spouse. This is an invisible law, this is a law the goes without saying because you just know how things function.

Principles come with presence, and we respond accordingly, the more we are in the presence of that principle, the more our response becomes habitual behaviour.  Just like the Police, you're driving along, minding your own business and the appearance of what you quickly formulate to be a cop car is seen in your rear-view mirror, suddenly your checking your seat belt, and your speed. The same principle applies when I arrive home from work. My walk to the door is always a cheerful one as Eden catches a glimpse of me and gets excited because Daddy is home. On one hand the presence of the law makes us check ourselves, where as on the other, the presence of the person makes us excited. (pause)

From the Garden of Eden, our first parents had to start using the mirror rather than looking straight into the face of Jesus. From that point to Exodus from at least 215 years of slavery to Egypt, they had lost sight of the mirror and had no idea it even existed. God then gave Israel his Choreboard, and it is outlined as the ten commandments.  As they were like children again with no idea and no direction.

The Moral law of God, is like any other natural law we are aware of. The natural law of physics suggests that what goes up must come down, that when you push a log down a hill it will roll, and everything else that is ruled by the law of physics. When we try to work against the law of physics, it takes a lot of effort. Trying to keep something up that you threw would require extra materials and efforts to keep it up there, and rolling a log up a hill can prove much more strenuous then pushing it down and working with the law of physics.

What's my point? My point is, contrary to popular and secular belief, our adherence to God's law is actually following the flow on how all things should function. The opposite is actually causing more strain than gain. Same-sex marriages, adultery, stealing, drinking, sex before marriage are all working against the original design, and requires more effort from us to work with.

God's law is but a mirror reflecting who He is. It is but a mirror reflecting his image. Much like the two great lights in Genesis 1:16: The greater light was to rule in the day, and the lesser light was to rule in the night. This we know to be the Sun and the Moon, the moon itself has no light to shine, however it mirrors and therefore reflects the true Source of light which is the sun. Much like the law has no life to give however it mirrors and therefore reflects the true source of life which is the Son of God.

And as we continue in Genesis 1 and come to verse 27, we find that God created mankind in his image, so you and me were created in his image?! And listen, 2 Corinthians 3:18 says But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

So as a matter of fact by a logical look into this study. The more we look and examine and take action on the law of liberty, the reflection will soon see the glory of the Lord, and we are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory!!! Until such time the manifestation of the life of Christ lives in you and me so much so that we are Christ like.......so much so that we are reborn and return to our original design of being recreated in the image of God!

It seems incredible to me although we've collected all this filth, intentional or unintentional and we do all we can to ensure that we don't take a proper look into the mirror. Our creator himself would stoop to become as we are, take the weight of denial upon his shoulders and die the cruel death to demonstrate his undying love for us, just so we could take a moment to reflect upon who he is, and why?

For by beholding we become changed, so as we do as Christ does, His death on the cross is our invitation to allow us and all our filth to be crucified with him, his rest in the tomb ensures that the old man is buried forever, and his resurrection assures us that we may look and act in the law of liberty and continue in it.....from glory to glory.

And get this! When Jesus returns to take his children home, Revelation 22:5 says there will be no more night. No need for a moon, in fact no need for the Sun, because we will have the SON! We will no longer need to be mirrors in this world in the presence of the Son of God! (Pause)

Listen, when was the last time you had a good hard look at yourself?

Have you take some time out for reflection lately?

Are you so far away from the law of God that you've forgotten what He looks like, and surely you're forgetting who you are?

Will you go away from here and forget what you look like? Or will you be a doer, and act upon the word of God? I pray you will do the latter.

Shalom,

Dave