Have you ever been around people that just seem to be happy all of the time? They are harder to find than people that have a dark cloud hanging over them. Even the news media is predominantly reporting bad and not good news.
The reason is that people would rather hear bad news and advertising dollars have everything to do with the number of people watching. I don’t think the majority of people want bad things to happen to them because they usually complain when things are not going right. So why do we seem to want to hear bad news, when we don’t want bad things to happen to us?
I think we really have not thought this one through. There will always be bad situations that we will deal with but we don’t have to allow those things to ruin our life. As a matter of fact, it is not the situations that dictate our circumstances, it is our reaction to them. If we handle tough things in the proper way, we will get good results. On the other hand if we handle even good things in the wrong way, we will get bad results. Things handled in the wrong way result in a dark cloud hanging over us.
Understanding the reason we celebrate Christmas gives us insight into this human dilemma of our desire to hear the bad, yet wanting to experience the good.
Matthew 2 : 8-9; When the wise men heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, til it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
The joy of the wise men was a result of their expectation in finding the Christ Child. They experienced a joyful spirit in finding what they had hoped for.
At Jesus birth in Luke 2 : 8-11; Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them,. and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Even though the shepherds experienced fear, the reality of their situation was that they now had a savior which they had hoped for their entire life and His birth brought joy to all people. This resulted in a joyful spirit as they made widely known that the Savior had arrived.
Hey folks, it’s Christmas! Have a joyful spirit as if it were Christmas every day.
The Gathering Place meets every Wednesday evening at 7 and Sunday morning at 9:30 and 10:30. Come and join us as we strive for that joyful spirit.
