(Guest post by: Barbara Reffey)
Two years ago, Vic, my husband went to be with Jesus. Over the last 2 years, I have been faced with lots of choices to make by myself. I have quickly learned that to walk victoriously in my life with Christ Jesus, my choices must be based on the Word of God.
2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.“
And choosing to hear God’s voice:
John 14:26 says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, HE will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
Did people in the Biblical narrative we call “the Christmas Story” make choices? What were the results? Here are a few…
JOSEPH:
He chose to obey what God told him in a dream and took Mary as his wife. The results? A virgin birth. Immanuel – God with us! (Matthew 1:23)
Joseph chose to obey the government (Mark 2:1-7), and registered his family in Nazareth. The result? Our Savior humbly entered our world and was born to die, so that we might have an abundant life here and spend eternity forever and ever in heaven.
“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it in abundance.” (John 10:10b)
SHEPHERDS:
They choose to go to Bethlehem to see “this thing the Lord has made known to us.” (Mark 2:15)
The results: Mark 2:17 says, “When they saw Him” they left full of praise and telling others about Jesus.
WISE MEN:
In Matthew chapter two, the wise men choose to follow the star.
The results? They found the Savior and presented to him costly gifts, which may have saved the young Jesus’ life by paying for their flight to Egypt, some believe.
There are plenty more, but as we dwell on the choices these people made, we observe several things.
#1 – It is important to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Many of the choices I have listed were surrounded by dreams, miracles, and angels speaking. Today, as Christ followers, the Holy Spirit resides in us. He guides and He speaks to us today, just as loudly and clearly as He did back then. So, I ask myself, am I choosing to listen and obey the prompting and direction of the Holy Spirit in my life this Christmas season? Are you?
#2 – As we make the right choices (remember God has given us a free will), what are the results? Do we experience God with us? Are we seeing HIM daily and making HIM famous in our circles of influence?
#3 – We are so richly blessed with gifts from God just like the wise men. Do we choose to give back our gifts to HIM to be used for His glory and the furtherance of His kingdom, or do we choose to hoard His gifts for ourselves with no thought of others?
Please join me this Christmas season in evaluating the choices you are making. May our Lord and Savior be glorified!
The Few 
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