My (Late) Manic Monday
Late again!!!!
- I got an early Christmas Present, so I can take pictures with Dylan and Lauren. I'm so stoked!
- This week was crazy, as more and more people came to shop at Best Buy. For the most part, it was busy, and not too many crazy people.
- With that said, why can't people drive whenever there is a holiday?
- Look! Even Nuns have fun
- The Google Phone was (sorta) announced. Check out a list of features it has! Google, you are slowly taking over the world, and I think I'm ok with it.
- I'm slowly discovering that listening to Ambient music soothes the soul, especially listening to artists like Matt Stanfield.
- Apparently, here in good ol' Raleigh, we got some snow, but snow (according to my definition) is when everything is white, not when there are a few flurries flurrying around.
- I wrote a post this week talking about the Manhattan Declaration. Let me know what you think. Did you sign it?
- And Christmas is in 3 days!
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone has an amazing week with family and friends!
Oh, and eat a ton of food.
Merry Christmas
May you be reminded that Christmas is not about you. It's not about giving gifts. It's not necessarily about family or friends. It's about remembering the fact that Jesus Christ came down into humanity to take on flesh, and to save the world from hell.
He lowered himself to save us from eternal damnation, knowing that eventually he would die a terrible death on the cross for all mankind. Without the humanity of Christ as a child born in a manger to Joseph and Mary, we would not have an example of who we are to imitate here on earth. Without the deity of Christ as a child born to Mary and Joseph, we would not have salvation that is offered only by God through Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas to all of you.
His Law is Love
I really like to listen to Christmas music, sometimes way before Christmas, like, I'm talking July. That's not a bad thing, right? Well I hope not. See, the thing I like about Christmas music is not that it takes me back to the good days of sledding down a mountain, nor do I like Christmas music because it reminds me of a time where there is no school, but, what I really like about Christmas music is that a lot of it is based on Christ. I understand that "Christ" in the Christmas makes my previous sentence sound dumb and pretty self-explanatory, but have you ever taken time to actually read aloud and meditate on those oh so familiar hymns, especially the song "O Holy Night"?
As I was listening to the version of "O Holy Night" from Dustin Kensrue's Album, "This Good Night Is Still Everywhere", I went ahead and looked up the lyrics behind the song, although I didn't need them to sing along in my mind, but rather, I wanted to take a second look at what the lyrics were. As I was following along in the song, I ran across these words:
Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and his gospel is peace.
In the New Testament, Jesus was asked by one of the Pharisees, "Of all the commandments (which totaled to 613), which one is the most important?" Jesus responded to the Pharisee by saying "Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
In the midst of the Pharisee attempting to corner Jesus into admitting that Jesus' way of viewing the Law was unorthodox in having to name the greatest commandment, he ended up shocking the Pharisee by summing up the 613 laws in stating that the Law is nothing more than Love for God and others. In the end, the passage in Mark 12 states that Jesus told the Pharisee that he was "not too far from the kingdom of God." The Pharisee understood what it meant to Love, but he needed only to Love and obey God in order to enter into the Kingdom of God.
May we be reminded by this Christmas song that Jesus has called us to fulfill the Law through Love. Too many times, even during the Christmas season, we forget to love. May you be encouraged to Love, just as Christ has loved you, because His Law is Love.