HLN reports that a family found a snake in a Christmas tree. There is something almost biblical about the scenario. We see in the passion of Christ the devil’s snake approaching Jesus while he was praying in the garden, and Jesus crushing its head. While the devil today definitely bruises our heel, we can rest assured Jesus has our enemy at bay. In fact, our enemy has already been defeated.
Today we see an ever-increasing secularization in society. Churches are springing up and pastors are coming to the pulpit, not with sound doctrine, but with tricks and programs to tickle the ears of congregations. A fort is only as strong as its fortification, and if the church we are going to (and the doctrine we are absorbing) is not biblically-based sound doctrine, how sound is the armor we wear?
The recent third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday, or Rejoice Sunday, because the Lord is near. John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s belly when Mary came to Elizabeth, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. When was the last time you truly rejoiced in the presence of the Lord? When was the last time you felt the filling of the Holy Spirit?
If you have succumbed to the wiles of ear-tickling preaching and are not rejoicing in the presence of the Lord, you probably have snakes in your Christmas tree.
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