We have heard the Christmas story over and over. This time round, I read between the lines to cherry-pick for you applicable everyday wisdom. Hope you enjoy it!
When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem.
Matthew 2:3 CEV
LESSON 1: Sometimes someone’s good news is bad news to us because we don’t clearly recognise the benefit it is to us.
Instead of seeing a blessing of a brethen, we rather see an uncalled-for competition. This is why Cain killed Abel. This is why Esau hated Jacob. See, when you see that God has blessed your neighbour today, it shouldn’t call for jealousy. It’s a sign that your open door season is coming soon. It’s a time to celebrate the victory with your neighbour because you even indirectly benefit from that blessing.
Matthew 2:11 CEV
When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and gave them to him.
LESSON 2: Have an attitude of gratitude.
The full benefit of a blessing goes to people who receive it with complete thanksgiving. These wise men presented their best gifts. As was fitting, you can’t go into the presence of a King without giving gifts. Not that the King requires it but you in your own wisdom know that it is befitting for a King. I’ve revealed to you why we are trained to thank God first when we enter His presence. Psalm 100:4 says so.
LESSON 3: People from afar are far more likely to see your star than the people close to you.
Coming from afar, the Christmas looks magical. Yet those close see animal poop, an untidy place and smell something pungent. See, when you’re too close you are more likely to see mistakes. Take a step back and appreciate the people in your life. Take a step back and even appreciate the person you have become.
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2:19 NIV
LESSON 4: Your heart is a treasure storage
It takes some time for a thought in your conscious mind to sink into your subconscious mind. It would need to be repeated frequently, involve as many senses as possible and be re-imagined in several dimensions. In other words, the only things stored in your heart are things you treasure. Once you treasure something, you pay too much attention to it. So when God examines our hearts, He clearly sees what we treasure.
LESSON 5: Selah
Selah is written across the Psalms. It means to meditate, to ponder, to treasure in your heart. It is the process between head knowledge and the kind of knowledge that changes your life forever. Have you met someone so full of God’s Word? It is because they make time to Selah. The Word of God cannot simply come to life to you if you spend some few minutes every once in a while in the Word. You will need to Selah before the Word can resonate with you.
The angel said, “Get up and take the child and his mother back to Israel. The people who wanted to kill him are now dead.”
Matthew 2:20 CEV
LESSON 6: “Get Up – because you can – for I have done what you can’t”
By now, you know there are certain things God will never do for you. Sometimes instead of God preventing the calamity, He will rather prompt you to pray to Him for Him to prevent the calamity. God is God, and He will always do what man cannot do. So don’t expect Him to do what man can do. If He does what men do, men will always take the credit. So He does the impossible because only He can. He begins where man’s ability end.
All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished,
Luke 2:18 NLT
LESSON 7: Your story sounds “normal” till you tell it to someone else
People will see you differently once they get to hear your story. Their senses widen, their respect enlarges and their idea of you broadens. A story leaves a longlasting impression than anything we’ll ever hear or listen to. Your “work in progress” story can change someone’s life forever.
After all, what is Christmas? It’s a story of the birth of a Saviour. It’s a story of the Son of God becoming the Son of Man so that the sons of mens can become sons of God. It is the story of Emmanuel, God living among mere mortals with human feelings, emotions, thoughts and instincts.
