WHAT God Taught Me about Himself through Rudolph
It seems I had heard the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer a dozen times one day at work this past week.
If you listen to the song, you can see that we have a lot in common with Rudolph. Sometimes we feel unloved, sometimes left out, and sometimes we feel like we will never do anything of any value in life.
Fortunately, Rudolph had a great big Santa that opened up a new world to him.
And, even better, we have a Great Big God that desires to transform us and our situation into one of blessings.
1. GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW HIS LOVE.
Poor Rudolph. Here’s a reindeer that no one loves. He looks funny, he acts strange. They laughed at him. They called him names. They disliked him simply because of the way he looked. Of course, at the end of the story everything had changed. Because he did something amazing that helped Santa save the day on Christmas, they began to love him. But their love was not pure. They had not loved him for simply being him. They loved him for what he was able to do.
Here’s something amazing about God! He doesn’t love you because of what you do, but because of who you are. He loves you whether you’re tall/short, big/little, strong/weak, athletic/clumsy– He loves you no matter what.
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
He didn’t wait until you were worthy of His love. He loved you before you did anything good at all. And, 2000 yrs ago, He sent His only son, Jesus, to be born in a manger for a very special purpose.
Mt 1:20-21 the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
His Name in Hebrew is “Yeshua” which means “Savior”.
2. GOD INVITES YOU TO JOIN HIS WORK.
Poor Rudolph. He’s awkward and weird looking and the rest of the deer made fun of him. He wanted to join in the fun and games but no one wanted him. They excluded him and he missed out on a lot of stuff. But on Christmas Eve, something happened that was both terrible and wonderful at the same time. A heavy fog moved in and Santa and his team of reindeer couldn’t see to fly safely. But, you know what? Santa knew something the rest of them didn’t. He had been watching Rudolph for some time and knew that Rudolph was special. It was a great honor to be on Santa’s sleigh team. He invited Rudolph to, not only to join the team, but to lead the way.
* It’s funny how the rest of them looked at Rudolph’s nose as a disability, but Santa saw his nose as a treasure.
Likewise, Did you know that when you become a believer in Jesus Christ, God invites you to join Him in His gospel work?
* You may feel very ordinary or even not very good for anything at all. The world may see you as a loser.
You might look in the mirror and see only your limitations, but God looks at you and sees great potential.
He sees you for who you are in Christ!
2 Cor 5:17 if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Your past doesn’t matter. God transforms you into a new person in Christ.
Jn 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
When you believe in Christ, you become a Child of the King that He loves very much.
Rm 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
God transforms you into a Champion and Hero. He’s got great big plans for your life, won’t you join Him in His work today?
3. GOD WANTS TO BLESS YOU.
At the end of the song, we no longer see this red-nosed reindeer as “poor Rudolph”. In fact, he served Santa and did such a great job that Christmas that he became the most famous reindeer of all. Most people cannot name all the other deer, but everyone knows Rudolph! He was greatly blessed.
As believers, God has special blessings for each of us that serve Him in our lives.
Rom 12:1 I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
(1) Earthly blessings.
Jn 12:26 If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Peace and joy.
A sense of purpose.
Fulfillment in life.
(2) Eternal Blessings.
Rev 22:12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
One day, maybe soon, Jesus is going to come back and bring all believers to Heaven to be with Him forever and He has rewards for every believer that has faithfully served Him.
What does God want you to know this Christmas?
(1) He loves you very, very much and He sent Jesus to save you!
(2) You are special to Him and He wants you to join Him in His work!
(3) He wants to bless you for faithfully serving Him!
