Decorations Of The Heart

Decorations of the Heart

Sunday, November 28, 2010

By Pastor James May

Yesterday a number of people came together, rolled up their sleeves and went to work, decorating the House of the Lord for the Christmas Season. Christmas time has always been my favorite time of the year and I know that it’s the same for a lot of you. In spite of all the heartache and sadness in our world, Christmas time seems to invoke just a little more good cheer and joy into our society, even if it is but for a short time. In some ways it makes me think of what it could be like in this world if men could only have that spirit of love, joy and peace throughout the year that we try to have at Christmas.

I also think of that glorious day when we shall live together in perfect peace, with fullness of joy and in the perfect love of God. That day will come one day soon when we all see Jesus over on those streets of gold and in that heavenly city called New Jerusalem. The little bit of peace and good will that we feel at Christmas will be magnified many times over and we will dwell in that condition for eternity.

The difference is, in that city we will never have to say goodbye to our loved ones as we have to go our separate ways. We will never feel the sadness of loneliness as children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters and family members disappear into the distance, leaving us to think, “When we I see them again? Will Jesus come before we can gather for another Thanksgiving meal or another Christmas morning?” In that day we will never be separated from those that we love, ever again.

One of the things that I really love about this time of the year is how that so many homes are adorned with bright colors and lights. Some have candy striped poles, trees with colorful decorations, and sometimes even cars are decorated to spread the feeling of cheer to everyone who passes by.

As I watched everyone working together putting up the decorations, preparing the Lord’s House for the celebration of Jesus’ birthday, I began to think, not of the things that make this building of brick and wood look nice, but of the things that decorate the true House of the Lord – the hearts of God’s people who make up the church of the Living God.

All of us are a part of God’s Church, each of us, in our own place, stands as a part of the building of God, and God puts us together to build a church that is complete. Every thing we need to make this Body of Christ into a great church for the Lord is already in place. God has placed a calling on your life; he has anointed you for service, to serve in God’s kingdom in some capacity. God has chosen you, and adorned you with those things that are necessary to make you into a beautiful dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.

Now as I thought about this I began to think of what God puts upon us, or into our hearts, that will make us into a dwelling place that God can be proud of. Some of the homes you pass on the street are very well adorned for the season, others have much less, and then some just have nothing at all.

I think you will agree with me today that I want to be one of the most decorated, adorned and beautiful temples that God has. I want my temple to shine forth with the light of God. I want my temple to be a house of prayer. I want my temple to be a place of joy, peace and love. I want this temple to stand out from the darkness of the world around me, not only at Christmas time, but all of the time.

Christians shouldn’t just be beautiful at specific times of the year like the homes of this world. We should carry the beautiful image and character of God all of the time.

What do we put upon our homes, or inside of our homes that make them stand out at Christmas time? Is there any correlation with what we should be putting on the inside to make our hearts stand out for Jesus? Let’s look at this for a while and see where God wants to take us.

Let me say as we begin that the adorning which I am talking about in the life of a Christian goes much deeper than outward appearance. I don’t want to downplay the importance of looking and acting like a Christian so that the world can see Jesus in the way you dress, the way you talk, the places you go and the things you do. All of these are important too, and the fact is that if the inward adornment of Christ is as it should be, then the outward example that we will give will always reflect the holiness, righteousness, love, peace and joy that Jesus give to us.