Are you living for His “presents” or His “presence”?

Are you living for His “presents” or His “presence”?

It’s a very challenging thought.  This was the question posed last week in the sermon and has promoted some helpful discussion throughout the week.

Most of us tend to live focused on ourselves, and why wouldn’t we.  You get up each morning, and your’s is the face you see every day;  your’s are the dreams you see and hear, your’s are the problems you’re trying to solve.  We care for that person in the mirror, of course we do, if we don’t, who will?

The trap is that we can tend to use others to serve the needs of the person we see in the mirror.  We can use others as a “means to an end”, our end.  This can be pretty unsavory when it comes to using God or His son Jesus for “our end”.

It looks like this; “thank you Jesus for dying for me on the cross; if that achieved eternal life for me, I’ll take that for the man/woman in the mirror, thanks very much – what’s next.?”  We can use Jesus as a “means to an end”.  He is a giver of presents, a giver of forgiveness, a giver of eternal life – we take what He has to offer and then move on to continue consuming whatever we, the person in the mirror requires.  This is a “me” focused existence, and it’s where we all end up if we don’t stop and think about it.

Neither Jesus, God the Father nor the Holy Spirit are “means to our end”.  God is not a divine dispenser of gifts to satisfy our needs.  God offers Himself, His presence, and with His presence all sorts of amazing benefits; forgiveness, peace, hope, love, dreams, fulfillment.  God’s presents come as a result of God’s presence.

In Exodus 33 Moses said to God; “please let your presence go with us, for if you do not come with us, how will anyone know that we are your people.?”  Moses was right on the money with this statement.  The people of God are the people of God because of His presence with them, no other reason.

This Christmas, how awesome it is to know that through Christ’s birth, His death and resurrection – all of us can know the living presence of God with us, by faith each day of our lives.  The man/woman in the mirror is important to God, in fact they are the living temple of God, created for His presence, created for significance – this Christmas, let’s remember that Jesus is not a means to an end of Santa finally making an appearance with “presents” – Jesus is the end in Himself! – Christmas is all about His presence.

In Christ,

Jonathan