Decorating the Christmas tree
Murray Smith
Unbelievable! Have you noticed the seemingly limitless choice of Christmas tree decorations available in stores?
The pretty, glittery and sparkly decorating items for Christmas left me gobsmacked recently when buying a cute little Santa swinging from a parachute for my grandson. I’ve got no beef here, other than observing how a pervasive drift away from the true, original essence of things is everywhere.
Sadly, the Christmas story of Christ’s birth with traditional nativity related themes becomes less evident, as commercialism and indifference, dominates celebrations.
That same drift away from the true original essence of things is evident with people’s concepts about ‘heaven’. Strange images like winged cherubic ‘babies’ floating around don’t help. The notion of heaven being like a marathon version of a really boring church service hardly evokes joyful anticipation either. Who’d want that? Sounds closer to ‘hell’ actually.
‘Who gets to go there?’ and ‘what is heaven really like?’ are common questions. Accounts of ‘out of the body’ experiences from people dying – then ‘returning’ to life are not uncommon. They sometimes hint at what the heavenly realm holds. The ultimately reliable messages informing us, are found within the pages of the Bible… written by people supernaturally inspired by God, some of whom had glimpses and experiences themselves, into the wonders of heaven, while still alive…and they’ve shared their insights.
The Bible speaks of heaven’s rivers, mountains, seas, lakes, trees, animals of indescribable variety, marvellous dwelling places, streets, buildings, delightful foods and the beauty of God’s own light and presence… of incorruptible order and structure – exactly as He’d always intended for us to experience.
The magnificence of earth’s creation provides a foretaste of heaven’s splendour… but heaven eclipses any earthly beauty for its perfection. Untainted by elements introduced through humanity’s wilful rejection of God, heaven is a place of flawless purity… with total absence of pain, sickness, shame or despair. Eternal perfection and delight is something our hearts long for – because that’s exactly what we were built for.
The consequences that our broken dis-ordered earth has endured as a result of humans leaving God ‘on the outside looking in,’ abound… bitterness, hatred, envy, greed, strife and wars… chaotic nature patterns, storms, famine and destruction – ultimately death itself. God’s revealed plan is to restore His order. The question is, will we choose to be part of that plan?
Heaven is the eternal destination for those, who throwing themselves on God’s goodness and mercy, have ceased seeking to establish their own righteousness, or optimistically seeing themselves as ‘good enough’. Self-effort will never ‘tip the scales’ to earn anyone’s entrance into God’s heaven. Something we’re all guilty of without exception, is sin… it’s an archery term meaning ‘falling short of the mark’. Only God’s ‘grace’ and mercy qualifies us for entering heaven – and that comes from acknowledging our sin and receiving God’s gift of salvation available through Jesus.
Anyone trusting and believing in Jesus finds deep assurance in His many promises about the certainty of an eternal home in heaven awaiting beyond this life. Cynics may ‘decorate their tree’ with other ideas – but the reality of the ‘true’ story remains.
Xmas tree with snow decorated with garland lights, holiday festive background.
