A Remedy for the Post-Christmas Blues

 
Did you get all the presents you wished for on Christmas Day? Perhaps you did, and you’re feeling great. More likely, either: you did, but you’re still feeling like you’re missing something; or you didn’t, and you’re feeling deprived. Today’s video “Corner”, by Rob Bell, may be just what you need to hear.

Deuteronomy 24:19-22

Commentary

v19,20,21  the alien, the fatherless, and the widow. In biblical times, foreigners, orphans, and widows were hard-pressed to fend for themselves. In order to eke out a living, young widows might become prostitutes, while older widows might be reduced to begging. Orphans might be reduced to slavery, prostitution, or crime. Foreigners—having no ownership of the land in Israel—had no choice but to work for, and at the mercy of, others.

Much of the OT law pertains to protecting the rights of these disadvantaged groups! Inheritance laws and marriage laws were intended to provide for the orphans and widows, while other passages like today’s were intended to provide a safety net for all the disadvantaged.

v22  Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. There was a time when the Israelites were oppressed. The bane of prosperity is that one forgets the time of oppression before the prosperity; one begins to feel entitled and deserving of all the prosperity. God says one must not forget!

Application

What was the last thing you were really grateful for? If it was a long time ago, how do you feel about it now? If it is recent—say, something you got for Christmas this year—how will you feel about it in, say, 5-10 years?

Success—prosperity—can be dangerous, can’t it? How is success dangerous? What does it mean to say success went to one’s head? Is all success dangerous?

The attitude of many reading today’s verses will be, “That’s not fair! Why should others be able to come onto property that is not theirs and take something they had no hand in producing?” Exactly! But being rescued from slavery in Egypt wasn’t fair. Liberation isn’t fair. Redemption isn’t fair. Grace isn’t fair. God isn’t fair.

In “Amazing Grace” we sing, “How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.” How and when has God’s grace been given to you? Where has the grace of God gone to your head—that is, where have you taken it for granted, or been reluctant to pass it on to others?  Who needs some grace from you? Do you need to give yourself some grace?

Rob Bell says, “We leave a corner [of the field] because in helping save someone else from suffering we may in the process find ourselves being saved. From indifference. From the inertia of inaction. From taking what we have for granted.” What is your field—i.e. where is God blessing you? What is your corner? Whom do you need to give it to?

We leave a corner because our world is either shrinking or it’s expanding. It’s either contracting in on itself, or it’s opening up. Our lives are either more and more about us—more stuff, more unsatisfying consumption—or we’re on a different path.   —   Rob Bell

How is your world shrinking? How is your world expanding?

Points to Ponder

A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."

"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. (Matthew 15:22-28)