December 20 and 21

      "What meaning then was attached to Christ's presentation! But the priest did not see through the veil; he did not read the mystery beyond. The presentation of infants was a common scene. Day after day the priest received the redemption money as the babes were presented to the Lord. Day after day he went through the routine of his work, giving little heed to the parents or children, unless he saw some indication of the wealth or high rank of the parents. Joseph and Mary were poor; and when they came with their child, the priests saw only a man and woman dressed as Galileans, and in the humblest garments. There was nothing in their appearance to attract attention, and they presented only the offering made by the poorer classes."

                   Desire of Ages, page 52 from the chapter, 'The Dedication'

         “God is no respecter of persons.” Years ago one of our churches had a visit from the local Lord Mayor. We treated him well. He was the object of our attention as we wanted to witness to him. That is, apparently, what you do with a VIP. He was a man of influence and would have loved to be able to influence others through him.

     The priest who just happened to be available to receive the redemption fee simply was there to take the money from the parents. He took no notice of the pair, save to note that they were poor, spoke in a funny accent and weren’t from those parts. He did his job and passed on to continue the rest of his day’s work.

      For a Jewish parent this is an important milestone. The event could only take place after 30 days of the child’s life, the child was recognised as healthy. To have a priest simply do his duty would be fine, but a priest worth his salt should give a little care and attention to the act – whoever the parents.

     The priest who dealt with Mary and Joseph ‘did not see through the veil’. The priest simply did his job. He did not take note of the symbolism of the act, the obedience of the parents or the nature of the child in front of him.

     Your next door neighbour is a human being just like you. He, or she, or them, may be Moslem, Hindu, Christian or … whatever. You could witness to them because that is your job. You might witness without ‘seeing through the veil’. You might witness not realising that you are actually on an important rescue mission. You are to witness to save someone from eternal death.

     You cannot be a respecter of persons.

     One, you witness to save lives. Your next door neighbour may need their life saving. You can’t go on a rescue mission in a half-hearted manner. You put your heart and soul into the activity.

     Two, you witness to enliven your life. Sharing your faith grows your faith.

     So how do we live our life, respecting all people as equal and sharing our faith as best we can? Here is your Bible text for the Christmas season. Please learn it, please work with your prayer partner to put the thought behind the text into action.

     “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” 

                         Colossians 4:2-5

 

     Housekeeping details for you

     The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

     A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here