Sunday, December 17, 2023

You Can't Be Indifferent Toward Jesus

The whole world seems to pause at Christmas. I mean, who doesn't love a newborn baby? 

A baby in a manger seems so safe. Christianity, we wrongly conclude, is inherently non-threatening. "How nice of God to have come to us." Even those who aren't especially religious find the message of Christmas innocuous. I remember spending Christmas in China one year. In the lobby of my Shanghai hotel stood a giant Christmas tree. 

"Joy to the World" was playing on the hotel's sound system. But no, Christmas isn't about feeling good in the middle of winter. It's about salvation. Here is the one Abraham looked forward to and Isaiah ached to know. "Me eyes have seen your salvation," cried Simeon. Total salvation was wrapped up in his arms as he cradled a cooing newborn.

You can't be indifferent toward Jesus. This really is God's Messiah. Play his music all you want, but beneath all external trappings of Christmas can still be a heart deeply resistant to repentance and in latent if not open rebellion against God.