THE COLOR OF CHRISTMAS
I recently viewed a delightful video sent to me from a friend of mine. You may have seen it. The video, titled “Colors,” emphasizes the idea that we should be grateful for the gift of being able to see the world in color as opposed to merely in black and white. How very true. There is beautiful music playing throughout the clip as dramatic scene scapes present themselves on the screen. The photographs, ranging from trees, to wild animals, to city images are shown first in black and white. They are slowly and subtly drenched in brilliant true to life color. The contrast between the same picture presented in black and white and then in color is magnificent and certainly drives the main point home. Color adds a whole new dynamic, palatable, and pleasurable dimension to the way we perceive our universe.
As I pondered the significance of this lovely video, I began to see a connection to the early days of my youth. I had what I consider a pleasant enough childhood. A daughter of the 1950's my life was relatively simple and stress free. I enjoyed playing outdoors with the neighbor children. We climbed trees, built forts, played jump rope, hop scotch, dodgeball, hide n seek, red light green light and tag. We had fun family holidays, and even school was “o.k.” I attended church and had a concept of a rather historical Jesus. There was no real teaching, however, or at least not that I understood of a personal relationship with the Lord or of what it would mean to be born again.
Please don't misunderstand. I am extremely grateful for the religious training which I had. We were familiarized with the gospels and learned the ten commandments. We were taught basic principals of morality. We were even given age appropriate specific examples and scenarios of how to apply these precepts in our lives. This instruction, I believe, laid the groundwork for my adult spiritual conversion and acceptance of Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. However, the rules and regulations which I learned as a child were not sufficient alone, in and of themselves, to comprehend and experience the love of my gracious Savior.
It would be much later on, after the birth of my first precious son, that I realized that I needed a new depth of love and grace in order to minister to my child. It was then that the Lord led me to the right people and, for me, the right church where I would learn how to be born again. I was baptized in water and the journey began. I drank in chapters of the Bible at a sitting. I had never actually read the Bible for myself. I was so hungry and thirsty for the Spirit of God and He was gracious to fill me to overflowing. I was introduced to the concept of “real praise and worship” for the first time. The Bible describes this worship as that which occurs “in Spirit and in truth.” As a young girl, I had sung rote hymns with no real warmth or understanding in my soul. There again, no criticism intended, as my heart had just not yet been baptized with God's magnanimous love. I am deeply thankful, however, that I had some exposure to Godly music as a child.
A fascinating phenomenon occurred after I accepted the Lord and began growing in Him. Like the pictures in the video I described earlier in this writing, for the first time I began to see life in vivid color. The joy which flooded and continues to flood my soul gave me a whole new perspective on day to day existence. I came to understand the term “seeing the world through rose colored glasses.” I began to feel as though I was beholding my universe through the filter of those rose colored glasses. Every aspect of life and every person I encountered took on a new brilliance. Even during times of trial and tribulation, being able to turn to God in prayer and worship brought tides of happiness and joy. In all circumstances, whether negative or positive, life still seemed lovely as I gazed into my Savior's face.
So as I viewed my friend's video recently I was reminded of the contrast between my experience as a literal child and my new life as “a child of the King.” Life as a little girl for me was good. And I thank the Lord for a safe normal passage into adulthood. However, it could be considered as merely black and white when compared to the glorious color of my present life as a born again Spirit filled Christian.
Christmas time is the celebration of God's gift of His Son to the entire world. The Lord sent His Son to be a sacrificial Lamb to die on the cross as an atonement for the sins of mankind. Jesus rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of His Father. He longs for every soul to receive His gift of eternal life. His desire is that all would accept Him, repent of their sins, be born again and filled with his Spirit. (2 Peter 3:9 and I Timothy 2:4) He came to give us life and life in more abundance. (John 10:10) He wants us to see life, not in black and white, not even in just natural color, but in the glowing, brilliant, shimmering supernatural hue of His Spirit.This Christmas let's remember that the most valuable gift we could ever give a loved one, friend, or even a stranger is the gift of Jesus Christ. Whether we are called to intercede in prayer for the lost or to follow the Holy Spirit's leading in witnessing to others, let's do our best to make this Christmas meaningful. Perhaps the Lord would lead us to bring a plate of cookies to an unsaved neighbor, or visit someone in the hospital. These acts of kindness could soften hearts and open doors to speak the truth of the salvation message to those who need God's love in their lives. Let's seize the opportunity which this yuletide season brings to share the glorious joy of our Lord's everlasting love.
By Cathy Friberg
