All I want for Christmas this year is a helmet. Not that I’m headed to a war zone or am about to test drive a Harley, but I probably will be going in a mall or watching TV. For that reason, I really need something to protect my head. Christmas always brings some fierce hits to my head from the inside out. A helmet is what I really need!
When I sit in my recliner and flip to my favorite holiday shows, all I see are love stories. Hey, even Rudolph and Clarisse ended up together in the end! When I head to the mall to finish last minute shopping (for me November is last minute), I see couples strolling hand-in-hand taking in all of the holiday fare. All of this still brings a dull ache to my heart on my fifteenth Christmas without my husband and puts my mind in the middle of a fire storm of memories which only add fuel to the ache of my heart. Somehow I need to reign in this holiday trauma which assaults annually, and the Scripture instructs me to do it with a helmet.
In I Thessalonians 5:8, Paul tells us to put on “as a helmet the hope of salvation.”
What is this helmet and how do I get it on my head? First of all, a helmet is protection for the head and the things that take place in the head. After all, our head is the center of control for everything we do from thoughts to bodily function. Obviously, our heads need protection; for if they are vulnerable, our very existence is tenuous. Secondly, the kind of helmet Paul describes is an internal helmet which may not be seen to others. It covers our thought life and controls our day-to-day activities. Most people never see we have it on; but if we do not wear it, many will recognize that it is missing. This helmet is put on inside our head and only we can ensure our protection with it.
What is this helmet? The hope of our salvation. This helmet focuses our thinking on our lives in terms of the eternal, not this earthly life. In light of eternity, our whole physical life is just a tiny dot at the beginning of our whole life. Quickly, this part will be past and then forever we will live in the presence of the God whom we serve. For that reason, I need to fix my thinking on the fact I have eternal hope, and I need to concentrate on things of eternal significance. My priorities need to focus on things that really matter which are eternal things. I need to put on the right kind of thinking.
Will I ever have that dull ache at Christmas again? Of course, I will; however, I am choosing to put on the right kind of thinking. I need to focus on the eternal and God’s eternal plan for me in this earth. He has me here for a purpose; I need to find that and give myself to fulfilling that for the rest of my life. For that reason, I do not believe I’ll wait until December 25th for my present. I am going to open His Word; find His promises, plans, and hope for me; and put on my helmet this morning.
So the next time you see me, you may not notice a physical change in my appearance, but be aware that I’m sporting a new helmet underneath this blonde hair – the helmet of the hope of salvation. My prayer is that you too get a new helmet for Christmas.
When I sit in my recliner and flip to my favorite holiday shows, all I see are love stories. Hey, even Rudolph and Clarisse ended up together in the end! When I head to the mall to finish last minute shopping (for me November is last minute), I see couples strolling hand-in-hand taking in all of the holiday fare. All of this still brings a dull ache to my heart on my fifteenth Christmas without my husband and puts my mind in the middle of a fire storm of memories which only add fuel to the ache of my heart. Somehow I need to reign in this holiday trauma which assaults annually, and the Scripture instructs me to do it with a helmet.
In I Thessalonians 5:8, Paul tells us to put on “as a helmet the hope of salvation.”
What is this helmet and how do I get it on my head? First of all, a helmet is protection for the head and the things that take place in the head. After all, our head is the center of control for everything we do from thoughts to bodily function. Obviously, our heads need protection; for if they are vulnerable, our very existence is tenuous. Secondly, the kind of helmet Paul describes is an internal helmet which may not be seen to others. It covers our thought life and controls our day-to-day activities. Most people never see we have it on; but if we do not wear it, many will recognize that it is missing. This helmet is put on inside our head and only we can ensure our protection with it.
What is this helmet? The hope of our salvation. This helmet focuses our thinking on our lives in terms of the eternal, not this earthly life. In light of eternity, our whole physical life is just a tiny dot at the beginning of our whole life. Quickly, this part will be past and then forever we will live in the presence of the God whom we serve. For that reason, I need to fix my thinking on the fact I have eternal hope, and I need to concentrate on things of eternal significance. My priorities need to focus on things that really matter which are eternal things. I need to put on the right kind of thinking.
Will I ever have that dull ache at Christmas again? Of course, I will; however, I am choosing to put on the right kind of thinking. I need to focus on the eternal and God’s eternal plan for me in this earth. He has me here for a purpose; I need to find that and give myself to fulfilling that for the rest of my life. For that reason, I do not believe I’ll wait until December 25th for my present. I am going to open His Word; find His promises, plans, and hope for me; and put on my helmet this morning.
So the next time you see me, you may not notice a physical change in my appearance, but be aware that I’m sporting a new helmet underneath this blonde hair – the helmet of the hope of salvation. My prayer is that you too get a new helmet for Christmas.
