Pastor Karen's Meditation for December 24

Good morning!

A very joyous Christmas Eve to you and your families! I wish you all the anticipation of a child waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve. Do you remember how very hard it was to go to sleep, knowing that while we were sleeping, Santa would be bringing toys and candy and other nice things for us "good" girls and boys?

My wish for you now, as your pastor and friend, is that that same spirit of anticipation—that certainty that something really wonderful was going to happen —will be a longing for Jesus’ return for His Church, as Our Alpha and Omega promised He would do.

In Revelation 22 beginning at verse 12, we read:

“‘See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’”

On Christmas Eve, we await not a baby in a manger, sent to us so long ago to save us from our sins. We await His coming again in glory to reign as King!

Is the idea that Jesus will “repay” us “according to our work” a little scary? This doesn’t mean that some Christians “deserve” heaven more than others. None of us has done anything to “deserve” heaven. God’s grace has done it all for us! No human work can top what Christ did for us on the cross—and what God gave up for our sakes, because He loves us so!

So what does “repay” us mean? It doesn’t mean “repay” in a sense that God owes us something for our loving service to Him. It means He will give us even more spiritual gifts than those He has already given us, and will continue to give us, in our abundant life here on earth. He will “pay us again.”

He will “pay” us with more love, joy, gentleness, kindness, patience, and other godly characteristics in our Spirit transformed bodies—when Jesus comes again.

But what does it mean “according to our work?” What is our work?

Our work is what the Lord calls you individually to do to build His kingdom. Each of us has a specific role to play that the Spirit will reveal to you. All of us, however, are called to love God and all people, forgive, preach the gospel, and help those in need.

If we follow Christ and allow the Spirit to empower and guide us, we will continually bear spiritual fruit in our work for Him. We “work” for Him not because we have to earn our way into His grace. We work for Him out of gratitude for His love and His gift of all eternity with Him in Jesus Christ. We work because He tells us to in His Word—and we are called to obey.

Are you thinking now that you haven’t done enough for Jesus? Are you worried that you haven’t been obedient enough, generous enough, loving enough, or compassionate enough?

We all feel this way. And truthfully, all of us fall short of what we expect the Lord expects of us.

As a pastor, I struggle with feelings of unworthiness, believing that I can’t possibly do everything I should be doing every day. I see needs and I run out of time and energy before I can even try to meet those needs. It is a lie from the Deceiver, however, to believe that you are not good enough to be God’s servant.

God’s work in You has made you perfect! God promises to use every one of us, with all our weaknesses, to accomplish His purposes. Remember what Paul said! That in our weakness, God is strong.

If you find yourself worrying that you have not worked hard enough for His Kingdom and have not been a good steward of the gifts He has blessed you with, then the answer is simple enough. Confess it to the Lord! And ask Him to make you a better steward, a more humble, cheerful, generous, loving servant.

When you confess, God pours out His mercy and grace into your heart and reminds you, over and over again,

“I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. Now don’t look back! Go forward in peace and serve me with all your heart!”

Jesus offers to all His living water, so we will never thirst again. The water of salvation will never run out.

The Lord speaks to us through Revelation, reminding us that His living water is a “gift” of grace to all the “saints”—the people who know and love the Lord:

“‘It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.’
The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’
And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.”

Let us pray.

Holy God, we open our hearts and lives to the Light of the World. Let Jesus come! Let our Messiah come soon! Forgive us when we have not used your gifts for Kingdom purposes. Forgive us when we have not loved You enough! Forgive us when we have been selfish, forgetful, impatient, or fearful. Empower us to obey Your will and love and serve you with joy. Give us courage to walk in Your Light every day and carry Your Light to all the dark places in our world. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Blessings in Christ!

Pastor Karen