Five late-year holidays remind us of life in Christ

By Editor | November 30, 2011 |

I love this time of the year! Those of you who know me are most likely thinking, “I bet you love it, with all the occasions to be a glutton.”

But, if you’re thinking that’s the only reason I love this time of year, you’re wrong. Although it’s true, I do welcome any opportunity to overeat (and Thanksgiving Day is an overeater’s dream come true), there is another reason.
I love this time of the year because there are five important days that we celebrate – each significantly different and representing unrelated events. They are five days that could serve to remind us of our life in Christ. The five dates are Nov. 11 (Veteran’s Day); Nov. 24 (Thanksgiving Day); Dec. 7 (Pearl Harbor Day); Dec. 25 (Christmas); and Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve). Now, what on earth do these days have in common, and how can they help remind Christians of their purpose in life and encourage us in our walk with Christ?
On Nov. 11, we celebrated Veteran’s Day – a day originally set in 1918 for Americans to remember the end of World War I. The First World War – proclaimed as the “war to end all wars” – was over, and the world celebrated. Our soldiers returned home, and it was a time to celebrate peace. “Never again,” mankind shouted. The attitude was, for time eternal, that America should pause to remember the end of “the war to end all wars” – at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month – NO MORE WAR!
After Veteran’s Day, our nation observes Thanksgiving Day – a day on which we count our blessings and give thanks to God. Can you imagine how meaningful Thanksgiving Day was back in 1918? I remember Thanksgiving Day in 1970 – having just returned home from Vietnam the month before! Back in 1918, on Thanksgiving Day, those troops had just returned home after enduring the hellish nightmare of trench warfare. The veterans were praising, “Thanks be to God for the end of the war to end all wars.” And, most likely, they were praying that there would be peace forever more!
Then, two decades later, on Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The “war to end all wars” evidently did not end all war! Pearl Harbor Day serves to remind us of the arrogance of modern man – thinking that humanity can achieve a lasting peace simply by signing an armistice, thinking that ink on a paper penned by well-intentioned, intelligent men could achieve a lasting peace. December 7 serves as a “reality check” for us.
In a few weeks, on Dec. 25, we will celebrate the birth of Jesus. Many will be singing songs about the “Prince of Peace” (in between trips to department stores).
And just before the arrival of the credit card bills, on Dec. 31, we will observe New Year's Eve – celebrating the end of 2011 and beginning of the new year, so we can do everything all over again!
Obviously, World War I – the war to end all wars – did not end all wars! A while back, I read somewhere that there are currently about 100 “wars” being waged worldwide, (with wars being defined as conflicts causing the death of more than 1,000 people annually). According to Global Security, there is an armed conflict/rebellion being fought on almost every continent. It’s folly to think that mankind will ever be able to eliminate war and usher in an everlasting peace. Pearl Harbor Day should remind us of that fact!
However, every Dec. 25, we are reminded that the one who will bring “peace everlasting” was sent from God, and will soon return again to bring that eternal peace that is unobtainable for humans!
Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:6-7 that there would always be “wars and rumors of wars,” and that “nation will rise against nation.” But he told his disciples in John 14:1-3, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself – that where I am you may be also.” He then told them in verse 27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
This world is always going to have conflicts until Christ returns. Then (and only then), will we have true, everlasting peace.
On Dec. 31, we are going to say goodbye to 2011. We will say goodbye to everything that happened during this year, and welcome in the New Year. We can do the same thing spiritually.
The apostle Paul wrote (in 2 Corinthians 5:17) that: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” He also wrote (in Romans 6:3-4), “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, we, too, might walk in newness of life.”
Have you experienced conflict in your life (Veteran’s Day)? Have you taken time to count your blessings (Thanksgiving Day)? Be aware that conflict will most likely show up again in your life (Pearl Harbor Day). However, we should remember that God’s Prince of Peace, Jesus, has been given to us (Christmas Day)! All that you have to remember for New Year’s Eve is “say goodbye to the old and welcome to the new.”
Welcome a new creation in Christ. Peace!