The holidays can be the most wonderful time of the year; and the most hectic, and the most frustrating, and the most depressing for those who have lost precious loved ones with whom they shared the time. Even Jesus gently chided those who focused on stuff needing to be done, like Martha, instead of those who chose to accept a good measure of God’s peace.
I often discuss baptism with individuals in the following context: ‘If Jesus had to be baptized to fulfill all righteous, then what makes you think you are so special that you are exempt from a requirement that held for Jesus?’ This line of thinking extends to God’s peace: ’If God himself chose to rest on the 7th day, then what makes you think you are so special that you are exempt from a need to rest that held for God?’ The holidays, or holy-days, should be a time of joy, and peace, and rest, not the exhausting hustle and bustle mankind has made them.
One of Jesus’ many titles is the “Prince of Peace,” because if we just let him handle things, he’s got this wacky world of ours worked out. He knows what needs to be done, and he has already done it, and we need only to believe in him, accept him as our Lord and Savior, and wait patiently and peacefully for his return.
But I’m not good at patient! And where’s the peace in this world? And I am certainly not just going to sit around all day doing nothing when there are things that need to get done! Alas, I fear we are doing a lot of work on the wrongs things, instead of studying, praying, waiting, listening, and then doing what Jesus wants us to do.
Grace & Peace, Charles.