BBD 11.29.04 The Forgotten Savior
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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11.29.04
The Forgotten Savior
They soon forgot His works; they waited not for His counsel: but lusted
exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And He gave
them their request; but sent leanness into their soul. They envied Moses
also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD. The earth opened and
swallowed up Dathan and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was
kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. They made a calf
in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory
into the similitude of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior,
which had done great things in Egypt; Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and
terrible things by the Red sea. Therefore He said that He would destroy
them, had not Moses His chosen stood before Him in the breach, to turn away
His wrath, lest He should destroy them. Then, they despised the pleasant
land, they believed not His word: But murmured in their tents, and hearkened
not unto the voice of the LORD. - Psalm 106:13-25.*
Friday was the first shopping day after Thanksgiving and is known as “Black
Friday”. I’ll confess that I did go shopping Friday in one store, a
bookstore. It was crowded but I was able to buy a bargain - If you bought
two reduced price books, you got a third one free. Actually, the bookstore
shoppers were a little calmer than you probably found in most stores. When I
checked out the clerk asked if I had a penny - I didn’t have one but the man
behind me immediately offered one of his. Things were a little wilder across
the country with stores opening as early as 5 a.m. and many in line for the
opening long before that. Because, stores/retailers were offering some
incentives and bargains for the shoppers.
By the time a Wal-Mart store in the Buffalo, N.Y. suburb of Hamburg opened
at 6 a.m., one thousand people had formed a lined that reached across the
entire storefront, in spite of the temperature being only 31 degrees. One of
the shoppers, Ruth Pompeo, was up at 3 a.m. and in line at 4:30 a.m. with
her 11-year-old niece said, "It's our tradition. I don't know what I'm here
to grab, actually," she paused and then said, "Whatever I can". When Martin
and Teri Clouser arrived at a Plano, Texas Best Buy store at 4 a.m., they
found that there were already several hundred people in a line that reached
around the store and down the block. Maybe that’s why they call it “Black
Friday”!
It appears that Thanksgiving is becoming a forgotten holiday. Oh, everyone
enjoys the time off - but the Christmas decorations and the shopping starts
long before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a purely Christian holiday with no
pagan claims at all - it ought to be that way at Christmas but it really isn’t.
What is the first thing that people think about when they think of
Christmas? It would appear that they think about shopping for Christmas
gifts. I would submit to you that long before Thanksgiving was becoming a
forgotten holiday that the true meaning of Christmas had been forgotten.
This is exactly what had happened to the Hebrews after their miraculous
escape from captivity in Egypt. We who are Christians have been miraculously
delivered from captivity just as the Hebrews were. We were in slavery to the
world, the flesh and the devil - the chains of sin had us bound and we were
forced to work for the wages of sin which is “death (Romans 6:23a)”. What
happened, what occurred to bring about the freedom of the Hebrews? What
happened was that God sent a Savior, Moses, who led his people to freedom.
What happened, what occurred to bring about our freedom? (Romans 6:23b) God
sent us a Savior who at the cost of His own life bought and paid for our
release from bondage.
The Psalmist tells us very plainly, what has happened and what is wrong at
the same time. These are sad words that we find in verses 21 and 22 of Psalm
106 where the Psalmist says, “They forgot God their Savior, which had done
great things in Egypt; wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible
things by the Red sea.”
This Christmas season let us remember that the real reason for the season is
still JESUS!
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