And the pursuit of the luxuries of this world can become a god before us. I am not suggesting that we are meant to be poor and uncomfortable but that we are to have God first in our lives. God does not fade with time. He does not become passe'. Unlike the Atari 5200, He will have the same value next Christmas eternal. Ecclesiastes teaches us:
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. Ecclesiastes 2: 10-11
Yet there we can find ourselves and our loved ones. Chasing after the wind; gaining nothing under the sun. Money gets spent. Fame is fleeting. Power is lost. We can fool ourselves into thinking we are just seeing the reward for our labor and deny ourselves nothing in this world but in the end; we will be left with nothing. History is littered with people we no longer remember. People who lived important enough lives during the time they walked the earth. Maybe they are recalled for a generation or two. Maybe they have a statue somewhere so people can be reminded. The one constant is that this world always moves on. The constant beyond this world is that God never changes.
So as we settle down this season to Christmas dinner, let us reflect on the words of the Apostle Paul when he tried to articulate the gift he had received from God. From our key verse we see it is indescribable to Paul. That is because the gift of Jesus Christ for those who believe is eternal life. Not some time in the future but right now. There is freedom in Christ. Freedom to live this life as part of our eternal life. Freedom from sin and the accompanying guilt and shame. When God does something, He does it completely. The gift we have transcends all time.
The gift of God is Jesus Christ and through Christ we have forgiveness of sins. God heals us from our past:
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, - Acts 3:19
Wiped out! There is no reason to be stuck in your past once you turn it over to God. Likewise, there is no reason to be concerned about the present. God is an ever present help in time of need. He sticks closer than a brother. The gift of God is Jesus Christ and through Christ there is NOTHING this world can throw at us that we cannot handle:
David said about him:" 'I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Acts 2: 25
