Friday, December 17, 2010 - Pre-lit And Plugged In

     We bought a new, "pre-lit" tree this year. Our old tree lasted about 15 years but didn't fare well in the move from the attic to the first floor so a trip to Arkansas was out of the question. We brought our new tree home and  decked it out with the ornaments we could find among our boxes, but something's not quite right. It's skimpy. I can see entirely too much light from the window coming through the tree and that pole in the center looks like a pole no matter how I arrange the branches. I'm envisioning a Charlie Brown Christmas tree for the Nolands in the next few years but it's a beautiful tree if you don't look too closely or too long.
     Since an unlit Christmas tree is a depressing sight to me we leave ours on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It glows in the front room picture window so people driving at all hours can see it and feel a little warmer because the people who live here cared and left the lights on for them.
     I'm a bit like our Christmas tree. Passable from a distance but spiritually skimpy and imperfect when you get up close and personal. I rearrange my branches in an effort to keep anything artificial from showing but I fail miserably. I was born pre-lit but not plugged in. When Jesus saved and  cleansed me, He filled me with His amazing Light and set me in a world where people pass me in the middle of their dark nights. If I'm willing, God uses me to warm and encourage them. Other people come closer in the harsh light of day and see the empty places, the imbalances, the chipped and superficial ornamentation and crooked star. I've got plenty of faults to find without looking very hard but praise God, He promises to fill us with Light, Knowledge, Righteousness, and Christ Himself. Once we're plugged in to Him, we lack nothing from His point of view. Even if we lose needles and branches over time, we just leave more space for Him to shine!  

Father, shine brightly in us today. Yes, we sin, but Your Power  is greater than our weakness and Your Light can outshine any and every failure. May we depend completely on You and stop trying to hide the places we need You most. Expose us in all our "gaping emptiness" and fill us to overflowing with all You have to pour in us. Erupt in our lives and encourage those around us to plug in to Your Power! Because I can breathe, I will praise You!

"For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His Light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing  power is from God and not from us." 2 Corinthians 4:6

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . .Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matthew 5:3, 6

"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." Colossians 2:9-10

"Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD" Psalm 150:6