Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Pastor’s Column, 12/8/2003



Happy Hanukkah

The 19th of December the eight-day Jewish holiday called
Hanukkah will begin. The New Testament calls it the “Feast of Dedication”
(John 10:22).

It began in 164 BC and commemorates the cleansing of the
Jewish Temple by Judas Maccabee. The temple had been defiled by Antiochus
IV when he set up in the temple a statue of Jupiter and sacrificed a pig
on its altar. That was the supreme insult, referred to as the abomination
of desolation in Daniel 11:31.

Those were difficult days. There was a law prohibiting
the practice of the Jewish religion. That came about as a result of many
years of secularization before Antiochus IV even came to power.

Slowly, over time, the Jews had tried to mix more of the
Greek culture and its pursuit of pleasure into the Jewish faith. The worship
and honoring of God was considered secondary.

Along comes Judas Maccabee considered a hero by Jews, because
he refused to go along with the prevailing culture. Instead, at the risk
of his life, he resumed the sacrificial system and the worship of God as
primary.

It seems our culture is going through its own secularization.
The pursuit of pleasure has made the honoring and worshiping of God as secondary
or not at all. Advertisers gear their appeals to our pursuit of pleasure.

This secularization of culture has affected the church.
Many of us struggle with putting God first in our lives.

Sunday worship is no longer considered important or necessary
contrary to the command of Scripture (Hebrews 10:23-25). The secularization
of our culture has also led to the break-up of the family and a general
lack of morals.

What is needed today is a re-cleansing of the temple. The
temple I am referring to is our body. The Bible says our bodies is the temple
of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Idols that maybe in our temple are seldom wood or metal
statues. Idols are anything that we place our supreme affections in other
than God (Matthew 22:37-38). Idols come in different shapes for different
folks.

This recleansing, the giving of our supreme affection and
love to God, must be done daily, by presenting our bodies as a living and
holy sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1-2).

The Apostle Paul urges us to do this because of God’s mercy.
God will help us, but He won’t help us do something we don’t want to do.

Why not wish God a Merry Christmas by giving Him a present
this year and offer your body as holy and living sacrifice today?

Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God in your midst, The
Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet
you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

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