Lesson to learn: You need to keep the right Godly attitude
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, Note: There will, indeed, still be eating and drinking in the future kingdom (Matthew 6:25; Revelation 22:2), as there is in its present phase, but its essence is now and shall always be, not material, but spiritual.
Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Now that Christmas is over, what do we do? The gifts are all opened. The gift wrap and boxes all picked up, and stuffed into the trash bag for the trash truck to pick up this week, and hopefully we won’t go over our limit on trash bags.
The family and friends have or will be heading home soon. The house seems to have lost its holiday atmosphere. And now, we’re soon facing the task of taking down the tree and the decorations soon. Pine needles all over the place and stuck in the carpet…So, then the tree either goes out onto the trash, or gets stuffed back into its box.
The colored lights will soon to be unplugged, and taken off the house, and will either be neatly stored, if you’re a compulsive like me…or just thrown into a bag and untangled next year.
So, that brings me to a reflective question…Have you ever asked yourself the question… “Is this all there is to Christmas?” Is the spirit of Christ and His birth just a once a year thing?
I suppose if we try to answer that based on a materialistic mindset, and judging from the return lines you’ll see if you venture out to the mall tomorrow, there’s good reason to think that Christmas is not much more than another seasonal commercial money making time for merchants, and a seasonal shopping time for all the rest of us.
Personally, I want more. Because IF all Jesus means to me, is just a ‘once a year celebration’ and giant spending spree on gifts to be given, and food to be eaten, then that is going to leave me drained, and empty.
So, how can I go through Christmas and the months to follow, and keep my own lights of Christ in me burning brightly? For the Christian, it has everything to do with our attitude and perspective. You see, …if we see Christmas from the ‘kingdom’ perspective, then we’ll discover how to keep some of that glow of Christ in us shining out of our lives for the rest of the year.
In fact, as we look at this passage, we find that Paul was actually addressing a very specific problem that was plaguing the Roman believers. It was a problem of allowing externals to get in the way. It was the problem of allowing things like eating and drinking, and celebrating, or traditions, or whatever to get in the way of the joy and peace, and righteousness that should be present instead in our lives.
So Paul, in fact, is addressing a kingdom principle…a principle that if we adhere to it, and put it into practice in our lives, will help keep Christ’s peace, joy and righteousness in our lives forever.
That practice is accepting the Holy Spirit into your life. We must allow it to transform our live in every aspect.
Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Freedom must be guided by love as we build each other up in the faith, being sensitive and helpful to those who are week.
Freedom is being free from sin, becoming over comers of sin and its temptation. The power that he instills in us allows you to become more like Christ by obeying his word. When you are growing in your relationship with Christ, The Holy Spirit frees you from the demands of the law and from fear of judgment.
Each of you needs to re-examine your commitment to Christ and reconfirm your relationships with other believers in Christ’s body. When this is done, actively and vigorously build up other believers, my bible says that we can be a symphony of service to God.
