Consume and be Merry!

Mmmm ... It feels rather good to just chill. However, daunting the the holiday season may have been for the masses ... shopping, spending and eating, still I am hopeful that there remains some degree of childlike expectation of what those few moments before the 25th of December symbolize. Certainly, like the rest of the "world" I've seen those wonderful signs lifted up overhead, "Don't forget the reason for the season." And I've even heard myself, smiling faintly at the dim notion that Christmas, is well, "About the kids, you know." I have felt the wayward call to consume and be merry! Actually, I found myself doing everything my crafty little hands could muster to make Christmas "the most" for my husband, children & loved ones. I had to sit back and say, "Wait a minute. Natrietia, you are worried about many things, but only one thing is needed."

When our family went to Christmas Morning service, the Bishop asked how many of you spent a little too much this Christmas season and need some (financial) help come the New Year?" Slowly, hands began to rise, waving limply over there shamed heads. It was embarrassing. Even people, myself included, who are supposed to know what the REASON we celebrate is, find themselves caught up in the rapture of over consumption. No way should we be finding ourselves in debt in celebration of Freedom. True freedom.

Galatians 5:1 says: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." I believe that is the place where we are, a place we are experiencing true Freedom. I feel like there is going to be a flow of supernatural power to those who will receive it that will bring liberty to our lives. If you will consider that Christ has set us free for freedom's sake, then as a believer in that grace, access has already been given. Scripture teaches us that Christ is the way, the truth and the life. For us, Christ is the door, the means to gain access to the kind of liberty, peace and joy that God, the Father intends for all of His children to enjoy. And each of us has a part to play.