'Filled With His Goodness'
by: Pastor James Scarborough, Donalsonville Assembly of God

As we draw closer to Christmas, I cannot help but notice the continual stream of goodies that make their way into our house. I have also noted how we favor some goodies more than others. A while back my wife's school class gave her a beautiful basket of fruit: apples, oranges, grapefruit, pineapple, grapes. We like all of the nutritious things that it contained. But then after a while, I noticed that the fruit was not disappearing very quickly; some of it went bad and had to be thrown out. During that same time a number of bags of chips came through the house. Want to guess how many of them went bad and had to be thrown out? While we like fruit, it appears that we like chips better. Interestingly in this case, the food that is best for our health was the one we chose to partake of the least. It seems that the more we eat things that we should not, the more that we crave them. Somehow we falsely convince ourselves that even though a diet filled with unhealthy foods might harm others, it will not hurt us.

We have some choices placed before us spiritually as well. Much like a huge buffet from which we select, there are lots of things offered to us in life that will fillour inner person, but many of them do not promote good spiritual health. Some things might make us feel really happy and fulfilledin the short term, but over time and in the difficulties of life they will leave us spiritually weak and empty. If we are to be spiritually strong, healthy and productive, we must stay filled with that which God has provided for us. That means that we have to get rid of things that defileus so that we can be filled with what Christ wants to pour into our hearts. I Peter 2 states it plainly: "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good" (verses 1-3, NIV).

We need to be watchful about what we allow to enter our lives and attentive to what the Holy Spirit says as He warns us about what we are partakers of. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

We celebrate Christmas because Jesus Christ came and provided all that we need for unfailing spiritual health. He came so we can have the joy of the fullness of His redemption that allows us to know the fulfillingpeace of abiding in personal relationship with Him. It is up to each of us to decide what to do about His offer. We can choose to feast on the goodness of what he has provided for us, or we can stuff our hearts on the cravings of our sinful human nature. There is no greater gift that we can receive than allowing Him to keep us filled with His goodness.