A Christmas Devotion #13

Matt 1:21; “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He save His people from their sins”.

‘Save people from their sins?’….. I have often found that many people think that they are ‘good people’ and live ‘good lives’ and don’t believe that they need rescuing from their wrongdoing. I am sure that this is not an alien concept to you either; you must have heard people say the same thing. Unfortunately, the reality is devastatingly different. We are all sinners at our very core and the seed of original sin is in each and everyone one of us from birth. Our hearts are naturally dark and evil and yet many people refuse to recognize this fact. They will observe that they have not committed any great sins, that they have not hurt people intentionally and are in no need of a savior.

Sin is ingrained in us so much, that even the youngest amongst us are susceptible to it. I remember when I was growing up that mam and dad wanted to teach me, Jonathan and Rachel a lesson in self-control. They bought each of us a plastic barrel with a twist top. Mine was blue, Jonathan’s green and Rachel’s was pink. Placed in the ‘biscuit barrels’ were 21 varied biscuits. (Cookies for the American’s amongst us). We were told that we could have free access to these biscuits, BUT, once they were gone, there were no more until the following week. Three biscuits a day should’ve been sufficient, right? Oh, there was one more thing; if you made it through the week and you had one or more biscuits left, you would receive a special individually wrapped chocolate biscuit. Well, I certainly failed this lesson in self-control. I think by Tuesday, all mine had ‘vanished’. Gluttony never tasted so good. However, I quickly understood that I had just forfeited my chocolate biscuit reward. Or, had I? I devised a plan that included me telling my siblings that I suspected biscuit thievery was happening and that if they allowed me to ‘watch over’ their biscuit barrel, I would make sure that none would go missing. Being the oldest I banked on them feeling safe under my watchful supervision. Mission accomplished, more for me. If only my parents weren’t smarter than me, I would have got away with it. This may be a comical family story but it shows once again that we ALL need saving from our sins, regardless of age, morals or lifestyle.

Today we have so many movies being churned out by Hollywood where the main character is a ‘Superhero’. Someone that comes and saves the day and usually mankind. Let us not forget that there is really only one Superhero.  His name is Jesus.