From the farmer’s perspective, he is the one who can tell the difference between the wheat and the tares and he allows them to grow together until harvest. There will always be a mix of the Children of God with the Children of the Devil within the Church and within schools.
The challenge for us can be self-deception, thinking we have authentic true affections produced by the Holy Spirit when its really false affections.
This coming to a true understanding of ourselves is very important, such that Jonathan Edwards wrote an entire work looking at 12 different signs to judge ourselves by. His second sign is “a true love of God whereby He is in Himself lovely, or worthy to be loved.” In thinking of this a non-Christian friend posted on Facebook about her love of Christmas and the positive feelings the message of the season has given her. I pray for this friend and for each of us this season that it is the person of the God-Man, Jesus Christ the Lord, who we truly love. Not for what we may get out of it but rather because He is worthy of our greatest love. When the Holy Spirit supernaturally gives us this true love for Jesus, Christmas becomes more than a celebratory day, it becomes a day by day relationship with your greatest love of loves, Redeemer and Friend.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
