12 Days of Christmas Day 2

The Second Day of Christmas my True Love gave to me, Two Turtle Doves. This should be an easy one since there are very few things that come in twos in accordance with the faith.
 The Old And New Testament, God’s instruction book to mankind. These two combined create the Bible, God’s Story which is to be told to the world. Many today do not think the Old Testament is important because of the age of the text and the fact that they cannot see Jesus in it.
Well guess what, Jesus is all over the Old Testament. He was there from the beginning as the Word which spoke creation into existence. He is known in the Old Testament as the Angel of God (notice the capitalization) even though there were many angelic visitors the manifestation of Christ can be seen when Angel is capitalized. The Old Testament contains the basics of living a good moral life and teaches values and characteristics which we need to live long and healthy lives for God. It speaks of the fall and why we do the things we do and how the Hebrews tried to fix it by appeasing God. The Old Testament gives us God’s Rules. These rules are not guidelines to be altered by man. It also tells us our true purpose on being on this earth. All these things are spoken and taught by Jesus in the New Testament.
The New Testament tells the story of forgiveness and love. We finally see the Angel of God in the flesh because with all the appeasing the Hebrews tried, nothing that man can do could heal the sin of the world. The New Testament shares the teachings of Jesus who is the Great High Priest, the Messiah, Saviour, SON OF GOD. It tells us about the reaching out to the Gentiles (non-Jewish folk) and how the Apostles were either accepted or condemned.
Speaking of which, did you know that today is the Feast of Stephen? You know, Stephen, the guy who was stoned for telling the Sanhedrin the whole story of Jesus and how they basically screwed up even though they were instrumental in completing the mission by having Jesus crucified. Yeah that guy. The one that Saul of Tarsus supervised the stoning of. Yeah you know him as Paul, the great Roman Jewish teacher to the Gentiles.
Stephen is known as the first martyr. His feast revolves around taking care of the poor and homeless. So the first mission after Christmas is to share the leftovers and unwanted gifts with those in need. It is not about returning gifts and getting what you really wanted or get the money to do with as you please. It is about visiting those who are homebound, in a nursing home, an orphanage, pet adoption center, you know, doing things that Jesus wants us to do.
So, while you are reading this, prepare your hearts to do the right thing this day, this season, this coming year. Do not be an idle (lukewarm) Christian. Make a change in someone’s life. God told us to do it so get off your donkey and help your fellow man.     
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