December 16th Ribbons, Ropes, and Bows

Colossians 3:14-15

14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

We have been discussing Christmas decorations and the glory of God this week. Whatever we do should be for God’s glory. (1 Corinthians 10:31) Our culture today uses decorations for the holiday but often never understand the special spiritual meanings behind them. I don’t want that to be the case for Christians. We should be able to tell our unbelieving friends about the symbolic worship of why these decorations are used.

We’ve discussed trees and wreaths, let‘s move on to some other decorations using today’s scripture. The Bible encourages the Colossians and us to put on the bond on perfectness. A bond is something that binds together or brings unity. In this verse the thing that brings unity is love. The verses indicate love and unity are the most important components in the church. Love and unity bring peace, create one body, and are a reason to give great gratitude.

Ribbons, ropes and bows are used to tie things together. These help to unite or keep together. Therefore they are the perfect decorations. They symbolize charity, the love of God, and the Holy Spirit which bind us together into the body of Christ.

They are the bonds which bind us together as a church family.

When the bond or unity is broken in the church - all suffer. It’s like a rope of beautiful lights which goes dark because one bulb burned out. Now none are shining their light like they previously shined. What broke the unity? What burned out the bulb? Normally Satan placed something in the heart of that bulb which cause the love to be diminished. The bond gets broken and the body lacks the beauty and bright shine which Christ desires. Charity is the bond - the perfect bond.

Blest be the ties that bind our hearts in Christian love....