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John MacArthur
They don't worship idols like they did at the
time of Christ, but we still have idols and gods.
Some people worship money.
Some people worship sex.
Others worship cars, boats, and houses.
Some worship power and prestige.
Those things are the pagan gods of today - the
idols of the twenty-first century.
And if that is what you're worshiping, you'll
miss Christmas, too.
You may receive some presents, eat a big dinner,
and enjoy a beautifully decorated pine tree, but you'll miss Christmas.
Over-Familiarity
Perhaps the
saddest of all, the people of Nazareth missed Christmas.
Luke 2:39-40 says,
"When
they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned
to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. And the Child continued to grow and became
strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him."
When Jesus returned to Nazareth, He was unlike
any other child in Nazareth.
He accompanied His parents to Jerusalem to
celebrate the Passover when He was twelve years old.
He proceeded to confound the doctors of theology
in the Temple (Luke 2:41-47).
He spent thirty years of His life in Nazareth,
yet the residents failed to recognize Him.
Luke 4 unveils
the tragedy that took place when Jesus revealed His identity to the Nazarenes:
"He came
to Nazareth , where he had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered
the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet
Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it
was written,
“'The
Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to
the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of
sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the
favorable year of the Lord.'
“And He closed
the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all
in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. And He began to say to them,
“'Today this
Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.' And all were speaking well of
Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and
they were saying, 'Is this not Joseph's son?' . . . And He said, 'Truly I say to you, no prophet
is welcome in his home town'" (verses 16-22, 24).
The people of Nazareth missed Christmas because
of over-familiarity.
They knew Jesus as Joseph's son, and they didn't
view that as anything special.
After Jesus finished speaking in the
synagogue, the people "rose up and cast Him out of the city,
and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in
order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His
way" (verses 29-30).
Over-familiarity is a deadly thing. I come
across so many people who say they were raised in a Christian environment but
are not Christians.
Fear grips my heart when I hear that.
Over-familiarity strangles conviction.
When you've heard something so many times
without doing anything about it, such familiarity can breed contempt.
Mark 6:6 gives
us Christ's own analysis of the people of Nazareth : "He wondered at their
unbelief."
Matthew 13:58 adds,
"He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief."
Over-familiarity with Christmas truth can breed
a stony heart.
You had better respond while your heart is soft,
or your heart will become hard and you won't have the opportunity to respond (Proverbs
29:1).
Conclusion
There are many
ways to miss Christmas: ignorant preoccupation, ritual, idolatry, and
over-familiarity.
But behind all those reasons is unbelief. Many
people simply refuse to believe in Jesus Christ.
The apostle
John said, "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the
world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not
receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John
1:10-12).
If you've been missing the reality of Christmas
in your life, know that if you receive the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in His
name, Christmas will become real to you.
It can happen today; and it's between you and
God (2
Corinthians 6:1-2; Romans 10:8-11).
John
MacArthur
is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, as
well as an author, conference speaker, chancellor of The Master’s University
and Seminary, and featured teacher with the Grace to You media ministry.
Excert from “6 Ways Satan Steals
Christmas”
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