Christmas comes only once a year. But it comes every year. God has built repetition into life to serve as a reminder of essential truths.
When springtime comes, it reminds us that it will not always be winter, warmer weather will come, and grass and trees will be green again. On the other hand, when autumn comes, it reminds us that warm weather is short-lived and that colder weather with ice and snow will return. The coming and going of the seasons remind us of the faithfulness of God. It is He who ordered the epochs and seasons and flow of history—all for His loving purposes.
Feast days (holidays) were built into the worship year of Israel to remind God’s people of His past faithfulness and perpetual covenantal love. This provoked His people to love Him entirely, and faithfully follow Him.
The yearly reminder of the Advent season and Christmas is one of God’s love for lost sinners as He reinstates us in His love. Peter was reinstated to Jesus’ love, for He was to love as Jesus loved Him and gave Himself for him (John 21:15-17).
The question is: as those who have been reinstated in His love, how do we maintain our love for Christ? How do and keep our love for Him fervent and strong?
Indeed, all of the New Testament points us toward a growing love and obedience to our loving Savior. But let me offer three reminders with three passages of Scripture. These three are all written in view of the last days before Christ’s return. You’ll find that they are warnings of our complacency because, left to ourselves, our love will wane over time.
Remember that God is personal.
“But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent” (Revelation 2:2-5).
These are the words of Jesus to the Church at Ephesus. Imagine how shockingly stunned they must have been at this charge against them. He is our first love, not an idea, an institution, or a theological scheme. You are made like Him—that is—in His image. You think, reason, choose and feel because you get those things from your Father. We can forget this and think of God as too big, impersonal, too far beyond us to relate to us. Not so. That is why Jesus came: to relate to us what God is personally like so that through redemption, we would be able to know Him, obey Him, and love Him.
Remember to cultivate that relationship by doing the “deeds you did at first.” Spend time with Him through His Word, worship, and prayer. Serve Him and His people in love.
Remember that your love will not be automatic.
Jesus said of the end times:
“Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 12:12-14).
In time, the fervency of our Love for Christ will degrade if we do not maintain our walk with Him. As Jesus said in the above verses, it is because of lawlessness. In other words, it is because of sin.
Our love will grow cold when we do not keep short accounts with God and others. What a tragic and horrible thought that you or I could become cold and indifferent to our Lord who gave His life. Let not much time pass between examining yourself, seeing if you are in the faith, and seeing if you have sinned in some way that needs to be confessed to Him and/or to others. Our love for Him will be dulled like a continually misused knife that is never sharpened.
Each day, morning, or evening, ask God to show you the ways you have failed Him in sin. He is faithful, and He will forgive and reinstate you in His love.
Remember that love is other-oriented.
"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these." (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
The Apostle Paul gives a long list of sins that are characteristic of the times in which we live. We see them, nod our heads, and think that we are not like them. But why warn us if there is no danger of becoming like them?
Notice how the list begins, “lovers of self.” This goes against everything God has taught throughout the Scriptures. The Bible is univocal in the admonition to love God and love others. Jesus put a point on it when He said, “By this will all men know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”
The forces of this world are constantly working against us to convince us that we are to look out for old number one! You deserve it! You’re the best. If you don’t take care of yourself first, no one else will. Piffle! This kind of nonsense leads to all the other sins on the list because they are all rooted in self-love and pride.
When Jesus reinstated Peter, the proof in the Christmas pudding was His love and service of God’s people. The same is true for us. If you love God first, you will love others to the best of your ability. The happy result this Advent season, is a happy Christmas.