Title Ability to use time well
Christmas (5) The ability to use time well (Luke 2:1-7)
<Change through Jesus>
Just thinking about Jesus gives me strength. When Jesus comes to your heart, you will find amazing peace, your thoughts will change, and your environment will gradually change. Jesus entered the island that had been abandoned as a foreign part of Europe and became the British Empire. Jesus entered the wandering Germanic people and a wonderful civilization blossomed, and Jesus entered the barren American continent and became the economic center of the world. It was because of Jesus that our country was able to develop as it is now.
Until the end of the 19th century, there were no schools in Korea. At that time, missionaries set up a school, and women finally received an education. In the old days, being born as a daughter was a tragedy, and a woman's life was a series of tears. I was destined to cry when I was born, to cry when I was married, to cry when I had children, and to cry until the day I die. For such women, the missionaries established women's schools such as Ewha, Jinseong, and Sungui, and laid the foundation for advanced culture.
The ceremonial system also weighed on the lives of our people. There was no freezer, so even though the body was all rotting, it was stored for 9 days, 21 days, and 39 days. The funeral was over only when the food ran out after crying in front of the decaying corpse and even the red pepper paste and soybean paste were gone. Even after the funeral, I had no time to develop because I cried for years thinking of my deceased parents and filial piety. In such a situation, when the missionaries recommended the 3-day market, they all said they were bad guys, but now they say that everything went well.
Even in the case of work, in Korea, yangbans should not work desperately, but the missionaries taught that labor is important and that those who sweat are real yangbans. As for the religious issue, it was the ghosts that held the hearts of the Korean people, so in fact, it was the ghosts, not the kings, who ruled our country. So, because I was possessed by a demon, I couldn't just work, just nail nails, dig the ground, and just couldn't make soybean paste.
God told us to rule and conquer all things, but instead we were bound by all things. When a pine tree withered and died, I couldn't even cut it down because I was afraid that there was a ghost of the pine tree. When an elder was about to cut down the ghost pine tree, a shaman threatened him. “Three generations of your family are destroyed!” However, the elder calmly cut down the tree ghost and used it well as firewood for a year. Like that, he was drenched in fear by being bound by demons and customs. As the gospel was preached to such a nation, death and curses receded, and life and blessings came.
Faith is not about fixing the wrong, but about accepting the good. In fact, it is more important to sincerely accept Jesus than to try to fix what is wrong. When Jesus comes among us, the powers of darkness will go away. Christmas is the day when darkness disappears and the light of eternal salvation shines on this earth.
<The ability to use time well>
Jesus was born when the Roman emperor Augusto Octavian ruled the world (verse 1). At that time, Octavian needed a lot of soldiers and defense money to maintain the great empire, and he collected a head tax to pay for the construction costs for various facilities in Rome and cleaned up the family register every 14 years to recruit soldiers. So Joseph also had to go to Bethlehem from Nazareth because his hometown was Bethlehem, the birthplace of David.
On the day of the birth of Mary, Joseph took his wife who was in labor and went to an inn to find a room, but he could not find a room because of his thirst. In the end, he gave birth to the baby Jesus in a stable and laid the baby in a manger. Why did the owners of the inn at that time miss the greatest opportunity to bless the birth of the Messiah? This is because people flocked to me when I was registering for a family register, and I thought that I could not miss the opportunity to make money, so I did not give an empty room. How sad it would be to lose something more valuable while thinking only about money and success.
Give your heart to God. And give it time. Don't become a person who finds happiness only when you do a good job, but feel happiness by doing meaningful work in itself. Take your time and leisure. Using your time well is one of your abilities. Occasionally, there are people who do chores at churches and welfare facilities no matter how busy they are, and live as hidden volunteers even if they feel uncomfortable. They live relatively healthy lives, and their life is resilient, which gives joy to others. So overcome the tyranny of time. A person who directs his or her life so well is a truly happy person.
They say that there is no time to do God's work, but in most cases, it is not that we do not have time, but that we do not have a heart. Of course, it's not very heartless, but thinking "I'll do it next time!" is the problem. Life is short. Don't keep procrastinating on good things. Make more time to stay with God and be with those who need you. When God asks for my time, “God! I'm sorry! I’ll do it next time!” and you miss out on God’s grace and blessings that you want to give through that work. However, if I dedicate my precious time even in difficult times, God will give me something better.