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Merry and Joy in Christmas

John 3:16-17 (NIV)
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

The Bible is full of the word "Joy", but only once is the word "merry" translated, and it's not good.  Jesus said the word in a parable that was meant to rebuke a man's desire to get Jesus to side with him in a dispute about material wealth.
Luke 12:13-21 (NIV)
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
14 Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?"
15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.
17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."'
20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
21 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

The greek word for merry is "euphraino" which if you look closely you'll see the word "euphoria".   To the person who thinks life is a series of accumulations of material things, Jesus says, "Watch out, Be on guard...life doesn't consist of the abundance of possessions."  
That isn't what most of us want to hear on Christmas.
We wish each other a "Merry Christmas", and by that we mean have a great time celebrating Christmas - gift giving, food, drink, carols and all.
WHY?
Because Christmas is Merry.  It is euphoric.  God has come down and He is with us.

There is no reason for Christmas apart from Emmanuel.  Joy has come to the earth.
We give gifts because God has given us a gift - free, and without asking for one in return.
We feast because Jesus is the bread of life.
We light candles because Jesus is the light of the world.
We sing carols because Heavenly hosts sing God's praises in fields at night.
We revel in God...look what he has done.

AND, most of all, we say "thank you Lord" because you came to reverse the curse.  There is no place for condemnation - there is only reunion when as prodigal sons and daughters we come home to the Abba Father.
He came to restore relationship
He came to undo the fall.
He came to tell us we are all sons and daughters of God.
He came to tell us that we are all meant to be something far beyond what we could ever imagine.
Acts 2:28 (NIV)
28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.'




Merry, Joy, Peace

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