There is a saying that, “every analogy limps.” Even when Jesus used a parable, one could look at it and ask, “but, what if?” It was the recognized principal laid down in the parable or the analogy that was the real message or lesson.

The main subject of our analogy is a decorated Christmas tree. The tree is the mainstay without which the decorations and sparkling lights are a reality, but are not serving the purpose for which they were created and when they are just stored in or under a ‘basket’.

In one of His analogies, Jesus referred to Himself as a ‘ tree’, when He said, “ I am the tree, You are the branches.” In our own analogy of the Christmas tree, we are the lights. The branches on the ‘ Jesus Tree’ could not grow if they were cut off from the life giving power of the Tree trunk - -     in fact, even though they would then be dead, they could still be used in many ways: For buildings, firewood, furniture, etc. The sparkling lights, without electrical power, are not really serving their primary purpose. Yes, they could have some distinctive shapes, such as a little snowman over the bulb, or shiny decorative paper that would reflect the light. But, the primary purpose is to provide light.

We are the Christmas lights. Without God’s life giving power, we exist, and may have some decorative value, but are really not serving the purpose for which we were created. Saint Paul said of God, “Without You, I can do nothing.” In the same way that Jesus assigned figurative life to the branches, so we can imagine ourselves as Christmas tree lights. As the tree branches produce fruit, we are called to be, “The light unto the world”.

From this point forward, we will keep in mind the Christmas light analogy as it could apply to ourselves. As this delves into how this is applicable in our own lives, truths are presented and there will be some assumptions made the as to how each of us sees and/or understands and consequently believes. These are the points at which the, ‘what-ifs and maybe’s’ will probably pop up. Facts are presented straightforwardly, and not with an eye toward ‘political correctness’ or feelings.

Catechism '101'
God exists, He always was and always will be. He had no beginning and will have no end. God created us through the cooperation of our parents. God does not do anything imperfectly. He is perfection. God created us for His specific purposes and He has a specific perfect will for each of us from the moment of our human physical existence, “I knew you in your mother’s womb”, thence throughout our earthly life, and for all eternity. See: “All the world is a stage…..”

His will for us, perfectly stated, is “To know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next. See: “ God’s perfect will…..”

In our analogy, God created us as sort of Christmas tree lights. He is the power (electricity) that ‘turns us on’ to serve the purpose for which we were created, in effect, to adorn and decorate (praise Him), and to be His instruments of light (knowledge and understanding of Himself) to the world and one another.

When we sin, and all persons do, as St. Paul also says, “All men have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God” and “He who says that he has sinned not, is a liar and the truth is not in him”, we cut off His life giving power, the electricity in our analogy, or considerably diminish it. The obvious ‘what-if’ is when the tree lights are turned off. If you need an ‘analogy answer’, just consider that as the time for sleeping. Even in the daylight when the lights are turned off, they are in readiness and available for their appointed purposes.

How “To know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him” is the central question in our lives.

“Knowing” in this context is not knowing about, but rather, experiencing. Yes, we do seek practical and historical knowledge about God and His Purposes and Will for us. We can gain this by teaching, by the Bible and by observation. Anyone could know about God, but recognizing and availing one’s self to the experience of God is by grace, which is a gift of God.

The different ways and degrees of the acknowledgement of God are as varied as there are people in the world. Since each of us is a unique creation, recently proved to man’s satisfaction by the discovery and use of DNA testing, it follows that our individual relationship with our creator God is truly one-of-a-kind. Unlike the Christmas lights which work in tandem, we have a God-given power of our own which includes the power and ability to accept or reject God’s individual will for each of us.

The first subject which must be addressed is to establish an honest personal statement within ourselves as to the reality of God and thence an acknowledgement as to His attributes. This does not mean that one would know what God knows, as Scripture quotes, “For who has known the mind of Christ?” What it does mean is that as we would look at the perfect attributes of God, that we would be able to wholeheartedly and honestly accept by faith that which must be a reality because of the perfection of God. For example, we use the term ‘omni’ which means all, to the fullest, without any delineation, the real epitome, in describing God -omnipresent, God is everywhere at the same time. There is no place anywhere throughout the universe and heaven that is not present to God at all times. -Omniscient, God knows everything that was, is and will be. There is nothing which is unknown to God, past present or future.--Omnipotent, there is nothing that God cannot do except to contradict Himself or err. God is perfection, therefore He is unchangeable. The closer we come to actually acknowledging the perfection of God in both our minds in our hearts, the easier it will be to follow his will in everything we think say and do. If we have reservations about the perfection of God, then, in effect, we are setting ourselves up as knowing more about perfection than God himself. Even though we may not see this as a sin, it is in reality the first sin in the world, the sin of pride committed by Adam and eve when they disobeyed God by believing, and acting upon their belief, that they could come to know what God knows about good and evil.

The next reality to be understood and reconciled is that God loves each of His creation with a perfect love. He wills the absolute best for each of us and he could do nothing less within His perfection. God, in this perfection knew that if man did not have free will to obey or disobey, then his adoration and love of God would be just a contrivance by God and He himself would be fostering a lie.

God, in his perfection, is also perfectly just. This means that a perfect love could not and would not make a mockery of justice. In essence, we have a price to pay for sin. That price for serious sin is an everlasting separation from the love of God in the prison of hell. We, nor anyone else, including God, can do anything to affect our release from the eternal hell. The justice of God requires reparation for or repayment of the price of our sin. Since sin is totally the opposite or antithesis of the goodness of God, only God, Himself, out of a pure unconditional love could provide a way for sinners to return to relationship with God. We do not have anything within us to pay this price, yet the price had to be paid.

Note that the price had to be paid, not has to be paid. The price has already been paid once and for all for sins committed, past, present and future. So why would some persons still go to an eternal hell upon their deaths? Because they do not appropriate, or accept the forgiveness extended by the price having already been paid.

As an example, that limps, back in the early days of our country, slavery was legal and there were many slaves in much of the country. The only communication from one part of the country to another was by horseback and word of mouth. When Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, he made slavery illegal and made every slave a free person. The news could only be spread by the sparse and slow means available, and then only to those places on the mail route. The remote rural areas were almost shut off from news. Imagine a slave who had decided to escape into the countryside. The news may have never reached him. Based upon his knowledge, he was still a slave and would be until he heard the good news or he died. Then imagine that he meets another slave and he is told that slaves are free. He has a choice; either believe and start being a free man, or not believe and in his heart and mind he is still a slave.

God, in effect, signed our emancipation proclamation. He allowed His own Son to be crucified by the sinners themselves. Pure, sinless goodness was the only offering that the pure sinless God could accept. With regard to this word ‘offering’, if I hurt or insult someone, I offer an apology and sometimes offer something of value, i.e. money, or reparation. The offering does not of itself heal the hurt as much as a right attitude and heart of the offerer,

Although the words faith and belief or believing, seem to mean just about the same thing, they have two different definitions. When you believe something to be true it is because you have seen or have good evidence to acknowledge the reality or by the testimony of history. I believe that God exists because of what I have observed: nature, order in the universe, miracles. Where faith comes in relates to hearing His Word and His promises. Spiritual faith is an acceptance of things unseen, which once again, is by Grace.

The natural progression of our thought and understanding is largely influenced by what we see and what we hear. Feelings are a sort of a by-product. Our feelings can change minute by minute. As individuals we have several options: (a) to believe that God exists; (b) to believe that every person can know what is necessary to know and accept about God; (c) to take the position that whether or not God exists does not have a bearing on our life; (d) or, one might assume that they have not been given enough proof to accept the reality of God.

In the (d) position, the question then arises, is or has proof actually been sought? Has there been a consciously determined criteria as to of what ‘proof’ would consist? By definition, a miracle is an event in the physical world which deviates from the laws of nature - that is super nature, supernatural. How significant would the miracle have to be? Would you have to see the ‘before and after’ for yourself, or what testimony would you accept? If the event meets or exceeds all your prerequisites as ‘beyond the power of man’ and thus by default must be by the ‘Power of God’, would you be prompted to pursue what your position in or with God is? If not, are you willing to stand or die on your own inclinations?

The (c) position sort of unwittingly acknowledges the concept of a god. They are saying, in effect, that they are completely in charge of their own lives. That even if there is a Supreme Being, they will set their own standard of life, without regard to the implication of what would be the reality of life if that Supreme Being existed.

To believe that God exists (a) could lead to only one logical course of action - to determine how that affects the believer. (b) then, becomes a lifelong journey along the path laid out and designated by God for that believer. Although everyone’s journey has many similarities and has only one acceptable ending, each individual must choose to follow that individual life plan chosen by God to serve His purposes.

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