90 to Nothin'

I just read a post on Facebook in which a young man was bemoaning the coming a new year. Hopelessly he declared, "Each year is worse than the one before." Then he said defiantly, "Come on 2010."

Wow, what an empty sounding attitude. That was contrasted for me the other day when a friend told me about his father being diagnosed with cancer at age 64, but living into his nineties without treatments or surgery. The key was an attitude that said he was going to make the most of every day and live as healthy as possible. He chose to be happy and healthy and depend on God to sustain him.

Unfortunately, the young man said he had made a new friend in Jack Daniels and that would get him into the new year. This is a Christian young man who has forgotten that his hope is in Christ, not anything of this world. That is why Scripture exhorts us to "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author AND finisher of our faith." With that Scripture I have great hope to be like the 90 year old father and not the young man headed for an early grave.

Gift Giving

One of the reasons we celebrate Christmas is to be reminded of the great Gift the Father gave us in His Son. As I prepare for Christmas this year, I'm focusing on another Gift given to us.

Jesus prepares us for this gift in John 16:7 and Luke records the delivery in Acts 2:1-4. Take a minute and read these verses of Scripture for yourself. What an incredible gift they received that day. It was truly "Christmas" in Jerusalem.

The truth is that the same Gift is given to us. How sad, when we refuse delivery of the Gift or simply tuck it away in a dark corner.