I love to sing out loud and it’s not that rare to find me
bobbing down the supermarket aisle singing along to whatever 80’s classic is
being piped through the store sound system. I also love Christmas carols, so I don’t mind the way malls
start playing them from October – I just sing along festively for a few
months! Most of my favourite
carols are the ones I grew up with so I’m strangely fond of that odd, slightly
regga, Boney M version of ‘Mary’s Boy Child.’
Their version includes the words;
“Oh my Lord...
You sent your son to save us
Oh my Lord...
Your very self you gave us
Oh my Lord...
That sin may not enslave us and love may reign once more.”
I like this song because it reminds me that when Jesus was
conceived it began the fulfilment of God’s big plan to save me from sin – to
put the world to rights again. A
plan which I am, as a Christian, now a part of. We hear this same message in Matthew when he tells us about
Jesus’ birth. He writes;
“As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him
in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take
Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his
people from their sins.”
- Matthew
1 v 20 – 21
I am one of God’s people. And Jesus saves me from my sins. This is eternally true but also somehow true today, right
now – through knowing God and aiming to be more like Jesus through the Holy
Spirit I am able to be less sinful today then I would be otherwise. Jesus saves me from having to live with
the consequences of many sins – eternally, yes! – but also right here
today. I am in no way sin-less but
I am less sinful then I would be without Jesus in my life. He saves me from being the nasty,
judgemental, vindictive and mean person I would be otherwise.
Jesus’ birth is not just a story for a book. It’s not just something to remember
once a year. It is the start of a
whole new me. And, if you want, a
whole new you.
No comments:
Post a Comment