Jim Elliff is a Baptist pastor whose thoughts I find stimulating. In a recent online article entitled “Tis The Season To Be Jolly?“, he comments:

Can tinsel and presents, carols and candy really bring happiness? Not often, and not much. And if our happiness is based on circumstance, is it a true happiness? Isn’t it just a playful escape, a temporary delusion? Does a little thin paint on the outside eradicate the rust beneath? Do cosmetics on a corpse make the death go away?…

The reality for a person without Christ is a permanent state of non-forgiveness, alienation from God, separation from the true people of God forever, and hell. Those are the matters that make happiness hard to come by and what makes laughter so fugitive for the thinking person…

When the angels sang about Christ’s birth, they said that they were bringing tidings of “great joy.” Great joy?—yes, joy for every person who will come to Him by faith. It is in the relationship with God through Christ where joy is found…

The true Christian should be joyful because his sins are forgiven, his place in heaven is secure, his life is in-dwelt by God’s Spirit, and he has an open door to God’s throne room. No matter what happens, he always has reason to rejoice because the big things are taken care of, and the Spirit in him promises to help him through all the rest. In a word, his joy is not based on circumstance, but on huge unchanging facts and an even bigger God behind the facts…

As much joy as we find in Christmas parties, in the giving and getting of gifts, in the nostalgic memories of Christmases gone by, let us remember: It is in the relationship with God through Christ where joy is found. If you’re lacking joy this Christmas season, remember Jesus Chirst, born to die, living to trade his perfect life for our sin-ridden lives.

(HT: GirlTalk)

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