It is officially an hour before Christmas Eve, and we are about to enter Christmas Day 2021 in full throttle. I am confident that we are each experiencing a diverse array of blessings, difficulties, and emotions. The critical thing is to recognize that whether you feel as though you are drenched in sorrow or glowing in joy, it is essential to remember to magnify Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior, this holiday season. Do not allow the distractions of presents, decorations, traditions, meals, or even your loved ones to steer you away from praising God this Christmas. I know this must be a demanding request, especially if you are experiencing a season of trial at this time. However, in that case, it may arguably be even more essential for you to come to Jesus Christ to cast your cares (1 Peter 5:7). He cares for every one of us whether we recognize Him as our Lord and Savior or not. Every soul is precious to Him, and if we sense ourselves adrift, we need to take this season as a reminder of the meaning of life.
A life with eternal purpose is one composed of bringing God glory. Therefore, when we rely on Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and He saves us from the snares of certain spiritual death, we should come to the same conclusion. The conclusion should be that since God gave us the gift of eternal life, we want to open the door to blessing as many others with this gift as we possibly can. If a human being saved you from certain death, I am sure that most of us, whether Christian or not, would feel indebted to that person for a long time to come. You wouldn’t forget them for the rest of your life, and if it were within your power to reasonably do them a favor, you would do it.
In the case of God, He doesn’t need our help or requires our favor to achieve His plans. Instead, He blesses us with the privilege of coming to saving faith and then employing us as one of His children to take part in His work. As children of God, you and I should be all about our father’s business. In other words, we ought to be in the business of saving souls. Although we do not save anyone by our power, we are vessels that God can fill with the truth of the Gospel to spread the message of hope, truth, and love to a world thirsty for answers. Unfortunately, there are many spiritually bankrupt people out there, just like we were before we came to saving faith through Jesus Christ. Our job is to reach those people with the opportunity to encounter God’s Word through us and pray for them to pursue it further once we depart their presence.
Of course, I am not making light of the calling to feed the children, clothe the poor, and contribute to the supply of shelter to those who cannot help themselves. These aspects of Christian missions are integral parts of our faith and are part of our calling. However, if we were to isolate our mission into one overarching goal, it would be to bring as many people to Jesus Christ as possible before it is too late (Matthew 28:16-20, Proverbs 11:30). Thankfully, these are not mutually exclusive pursuits either. We do not have to choose to feed the poor but refrain from reaching out to those we encounter with God’s Word. Therefore, your purpose as a Christian may feel more heavily weighted to one area in which God placed an aspiration in your heart to meet needs. This “why” or purpose will become more clearly defined and possibly even change as the seasons pass along throughout your life. However, sprinkling some level of evangelism efforts into your walk as a believer will never go to waste.
How do we recognize where our focus should reside? To answer this question accurately, we should pray for help identifying it. As far as evangelism is concerned, the Holy Spirit will often lead us during these divine appointments and help us to share the Gospel with those we encounter. We need to be open and willing vessels for God to utilize (2 Timothy 2:20-21). Granted, if you have done this almost any reasonable number of times, you will quickly notice that not everyone is receptive. However, even those who seem least compelled may slowly soften their hearts towards God’s calling upon their life. The beauty of the situation is there is no pressure on us. As long as we are faithfully delivering God’s message to them and praying for their salvation, that is the end of our responsibility.
We can tell them that they have a fallen nature that makes them susceptible to sin and that Jesus Christ died for those sins (Romans 6:10-11). Our sins were imputed upon Him, and His righteousness was imputed upon us at the cross (Suggested reading: “Why Does Christ’s righteousness need to be imputed to us?“). Without Him having done this for them, they would be doomed to spend eternity in hell. They need to understand that they need a Savior because of their sin and that it is pivotal for them to repent from their sins and believe that He not only died but also resurrected three days later. Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be victorious over sin and death on our behalf when we could never be without Him. Later, He ascended into Heaven to be at God’s right hand. At this time, He still lovingly intercedes on our behalf from the right hand of God the Father. Thankfully, if we come to saving faith, Jesus Christ fully justifies us through the sequence above, once and for all. They, too, can take comfort in that reality and embrace God’s gift to them by taking that step of faith that God has compelled them to make. They must understand that it isn’t by their works or effort that they are saved, but rather the gift of God by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, that saves them (Ephesians 2:8-9).
How we share a message like this may differ from person to person. A few other variables to consider are:
- How much time you will spend with the person.
- How close you are to them.
- Whether they have come across the Bible before.
I suggest having a short <5minute variation of explaining the Gospel in case the situation calls for brevity, but otherwise, I try to be thorough. The more limited the time frame, the more I would suggest plugging them into a resource to help them explore more for themselves (i.e., Gospel tract, Bible, website, Youtube, Christian podcast, etc.) My strategy might be to relay this information matter-of-factly and then invite someone to read the Gospel or perhaps attend my local Church. Someone else may prefer to hand the person a Gospel tract with a similar explanation of the core elements of the Gospel and lead by example. Still, others might not feel comfortable engaging strangers but take it upon themselves to share their testimony with their closest family and friends before they take a step of faith to share the good news with a stranger.
No matter what, the bottom line is that this should be a critical part of what you and I stand for and aim to do as believers. We need to remind ourselves that one soul is worth more than all the money this world has to offer combined. It needs to be engrained in our minds that there is a beautiful significance to all the things we do for God’s glory that yield eternal value rather than just temporary value here on earth.
I want to encourage you to take inventory of your life this Christmas. Go ahead and enjoy your quality time with loved ones, but perhaps ask God if there is someone in your family you have not reached with God’s Word who may still need to hear it. Thank God for the food, shelter, and even presents many of us are blessed to give and receive, but always remember that these are trivial compared to the magnitude of God’s gifts to us. Just because we have not seen the culmination of what the heavenly treasure we are storing signifies doesn’t mean we cannot start appreciating it in faith. Above all, keep the emphasis on Jesus Christ whenever possible. It is God who woke you up to enjoy these beautiful celebrations. It is God who opened the door for you to have eternal security already and store up heavenly treasures through obedience to His commands. Finally, it is God who deserves all the glory and acknowledgment. It shouldn’t be shifted away from Him and turned to the fleeting pleasures of this earth. May God bless you and yours this holiday season. Remember His Son Jesus Christ will always be the rightful focus of Christmas and every day for eternity.
