Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

 Feast of the Nativity Birth of the Savior: Joy to the World

1 Timothy 1:14-17

“and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are FOUND in Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy:15

One of the most difficult parts of losing something is the frustration of knowing something is supposed to be somewhere, but when you look it’s not there. In my house, we have a place to hang our car keys right by the front door, and there is an unwritten system, that once we come in we should hang the keys so if we need to leave with the car, the keys are right there in plain sight. The problem becomes when a person (usually ME) doesn’t follow the system.  There is a range of emotions that happen when you need to leave in a hurry and you can’t find the car keys. First, you stare at the key hooks for a while, expecting magically they would appear. Then you go on the search for the keys, thinking about what you last wore, and where you last sat, and you search and search in normal places like couches and desks, and as the search drags on you start searching the fridge and other odd places. The standard process for searching usually starts out calmly, but as time goes on, it moves to frustration and anger.  If anyone else is in the house, you start blaming them for just being there and not helping or worse, that they moved it to intentionally cause you this search.  Finally, you get angry at yourself, due to the embarrassment and shame that you couldn’t follow a simple rule.   All of this occurred, due to a “little” disobedience.  The anger and frustration caused issues with relationships and finally being overwhelmed with feelings of guilt and a feeling of a loss of control over what started out as a routine activity.  
Paul in his letter to Timothy is talking about finding things like faith and love, and in verse 16 going further to say he found mercy, and he found all of this in Christ Jesus.  In order to find something, I think there’s an understanding that it was lost, to begin with.  In my car key example, the sin and downfall started with me not being obedient to the system.  In a single moment, I made a decision usually unconsciously to not hang up my keys, but later I had to deal with frustration, guilt, and anger.  Paul recognizes that He Paul is part of a creation that is unconsciously and consciously in confrontation with God.  We lost something that we could not in our own power find, but this is where the grace of God shines.  In Christ Jesus, all of what we lost with God was found.  Our faith in God, God’s love for us, our love for God, and God’s mercy toward us,  can all be found in Christ.  If you have lost anything, we can all agree, the greater the value of the item, the longer and more intense the search.  But once we find it, the more valuable the item, the greater the celebration when we find it.  This Christmas, the gift of a savior was a great treasure that we struggle to realize we lost, but when you find Him, He will be the greatest source of celebration in your life.   Amen

 

Prayer

 Lord, I thank you for giving us, Jesus.   Speak to us and draw us closer to you through your Holy Spirit. Forgive us for the times we fall short but help us to live a life of joy with you. Guide us to give you glory in our big and small decisions today. Amen.

 


Shibu Mathew
Epiphany Mar Thoma Church

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