I can think of no better gift at Christmas than faith. Thankfully it’s available all year round but that’s not to say it’s easily acquired. The night I posted my comment in the NYT, I read the next essay (“The Way”) in The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis, which I hadn’t picked up in several weeks. Can you believe it “happened” to be all about ethics vs. instincts? I love it when God sends me serendipities that confirm recent epiphanies were indeed just that. But for those who find it harder to believe, my inner skeptic is compassionate, and so here are some posts and verses that are meant to illuminate the gift of faith this Christmas:
Answering Atheists
Holes Make Us Whole
Reality
Seeing Trinities
God Is
True Myth
The Naked Other
Mistakes to Masterpieces
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ~Romans 1:20
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. ~Hebrews 11:3
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” ~Mark 9:24
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. ~Ephesians 2:8-10
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. ~2 Corinthians 4:16-18
3 Comments
December 24, 2009 at 12:58 pm
“I can think of no better gift at Christmas than faith.”
John 20:29
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
By faith,we are blessed!
December 24, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Merry Christmas my love. Lord, increase our faith………….in Jesus name I pray…..Amen
December 28, 2009 at 10:36 am
I linked over from the NYT article and was surprised to find your post as the only asking the deeper meaning questions. I am a believer as well, and it seems that all of the other comments had a sense of guilt permeating throughout–that our lives are based on violence and inevitable destruction. The Lord has given us dominion, though. Not a dominion that is to be taken advantage of, but one of stewardship, of acknowledging that we serve the Lord in all that we do, even in how we eat and consume. Consumption, then, becomes another opportunity to give thanks and receive with humility God’s provision.
Thanks for your insightful comments, and best of luck with your blog and family in this new year.
-Payton