Don't Be Deceived
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. Genesis 3:1
The word Genesis translated from the Hebrew means "beginning." It is the first book of the Bible and where it all begins. It doesn’t take a reader very long before they get to the fall of humanity. Just three chapters into Genesis and we read about Adam and Eve’s eating of the forbidden fruit and being cast out of the Garden of Eden. At that moment, there is a lot of blame going around. First, Adam blames Eve; then Eve blames the serpent, no one wants to own up to their actions. It seems like ever since that moment humans have been making excuses.
For the last five weeks on Wednesday nights, the youth have been looking at “Satan’s Arrows.” Most people when they hear the word "Satan" they think of a fallen angel that stands in opposition of God, also known as the devil. In reality, the Hebrew word for Satan means advisory or anything that stands in the way of knowing or doing God’s will. This is why when the soldiers come to arrest Jesus, before his crucifixion, and Peter pulls out his sword to protect him, Jesus says, “get behind me Satan (Mt 16:23).” Jesus is not calling Peter the devil; he tells him “You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Peter is impeding God’s plan for Jesus.
In our discussion, we talked about five things that keep us from spending time with God. The five arrows of Satan were guilt, busyness, distractions, fear, and self-worth. As the Advent season, a time of preparation for Jesus’s birth quickly is coming to an end, I wonder how many of us have been deceived into thinking that Christmas is about something other than the celebration of Christ’s birth.
The world in which we live makes it easy to get distracted. I mean how many “Christmas” parties have we attended? Were any of them about Christ? Was Jesus even mentioned? How many people will not come to church this Christmas because they live in fear that the “Christians” who go to church every week will judge them and make them feel guilty?
Between my three children, my wife’s work, and my work, I have been to six Christmas parties with two, maybe three more, coming. Three Christmas plays. Countless practices getting ready for those plays and performances. Two holiday classic baseball tourney’s, a Christmas band concert, a Holiday dance. Having to balance that with Christmas shopping, baking, cooking and let’s not forget the Christmas cards. (We didn’t send cards out this year. It wasn’t because we forgot or didn’t want to, we couldn’t find our address list. We spent endless hours looking for something we didn’t even use. The good news is we found our list, by accident, this past weekend, so there might be cards next year). With all that we “have to do” during Advent, it is hard to imagine we will have time to celebrate Christ’s birth at all! I wish it were just me who had this struggle, but I know I am not alone. We often find ourselves so busy and distracted with "stuff" that we neglect to make room for Christ.
With Christmas just around the corner, it isn’t too late to make room for Jesus in our lives today. One of the biggest deceptions that we tell ourselves is that we will do it tomorrow, but we all know that tomorrow never comes. As we finish out 2017 and look towards 2018, let us make room in our hearts and our lives to celebrate the greatest gift the world has ever known. Don’t let guilt or fear keep you from experiencing the love of God this Christmas. Take some time from your busy schedules and the distractions of your world to truly celebrate Christmas. Don’t be deceived! It isn’t too late to make room in your life for the newborn King.