Even though I see no snow when I look out my window because I live in the desert, I remember fondly the many Christmases I spent as a child just a short distance from the beautiful mountains in Colorado. I think I was about 6 when we didn't have snow in our front yard so mom and dad put us in the car and drove us to the mountains because they had promised we would always have snow for Christmas.
Now, more and more it seems that here in our Christian founded country that Christmas has been has become politically incorrect. When I see Christmas being attacked because it might offend someone to tell them "Merry Christmas", it reminds me how much the devil works to turn us against God. The economic recession continues to place most of us in a financial situation that traditional gift buying isn't the same as it once was or even possible for some. I think this can be a Christmas blessing if we stop and realize it's not about the gifts we can buy others or the monetary gifts we receive. Rather, the meaning of Christmas should be a time to refocus our lives.
The Jewish nation had been given great blessings from God despite the fact they continually promised to follow God only to turn and rebel against God almost in the same breathe at times. Yet, God continued to call them a great nation and provide not only guidance but specific prophecy about when Christ would be born. In Daniel 9, we find the 70 day prophecy which clearly depicts when Christ would come to earth. The Jewish people had this prophecy and the Jewish leaders had studied it for many generations, yet only a handful of Jews accepted Christ when He did come to earth.
It is easy for us as modern day Christians to ponder just how stupid the Jewish nation was to not realize it was Christ when the scriptures had so clearly laid the timeline out. But, are Christians today any less guilty? Many in the Christian world have literally torn apart the 70-day prophecy which is the prophecy that proves Jesus is the Christ we place our faith in and use the last week of the prophecy, the very prophecy that is the time frame of Christ's earthly ministry, and they put this one prophetic week or 7 year period at the end of time and claim there will be a secret rapture. Just like the Jewish nation in Christ's day who studied the scriptures and looked toward the coming Lord missed what was in front of their face because the were looking for someone to save them from the Roman oppression of their day; Christians who use Daniel 9 to teach a rapture theory are also teaching an error which will cause many to not properly prepare for the second coming of the Lord because they think they'll have a second chance.
What about us who understand that there is no secret rapture taught in the Scriptures? Are we immune from the errors of the Jewish nation in Christ's day? I think there is a second potential error of not realizing how important it is to prepare our hearts and fully commit to living a life that will prepare us to be ready. I believe it was the Jewish people who readied their hearts in prayer while studying the Scriptures who were open and ready to accept and recognize the Saviour when He came. We need to be continually setting self aside and in a prayerful state of mind, asking God for His will to be fulfilled in our lives. Reading the Bible, knowing the truths we do such as the Sabbath, lack of a rapture, or that we don't go to heaven when we die; these are not enough to prepare us for the Coming of our Lord. The pharisees had studied the Scriptures and knew them by heart, taught them to others, and yet they were not prepared to accept the Lord upon His coming.
Unlike the precision of the first advent prophecy, we are not told the exact time the Lord will return the second time but Christ Himself told left us many signs and they are rapidly being fulfilled before our very eyes. May God bless you this Christmas season and I pray that your heart will be open to His will, that you receive the gifts of the Spirit rather than material presents so that you will stand strong and hold firm the truth of the Scriptures.
"But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers." I Peter 4:7
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