Devotional - December 4th, 2020

An eight-year-old boy was riding in the car with his Mom. As they drove, he asked her, do you want me to throw the confetti in my pocket? His mother answered No! not in the car. And why do you have confetti in your pocket? He responded saying, it is my emergency confetti and I carry it everywhere in case there is good news. First of all, this made me smile. Who would ever think to carry emergency confetti in case there is good news. And then I thought, why not. How cool would it be, to be in the midst of a crowd of people, hear some great news, and pull the emergency confetti out of your pocket to celebrate?!! Besides people looking at you like you had gone round the bend; it would be awesome to have an emergency stash to use whenever there is good news.

And then I thought some more, and I realized we do have within us spiritual confetti to share when there is good news. How often do we find ourselves celebrating good news with thank you Jesus, or thank God, or thank heavens? How many of us when we hear good news think to give God the credit first? When we thank the Lord for good news and others are around, that is a great opportunity to not only say thank the Lord, but to share some of our journey. By that I don’t mean our whole medical history. I mean we could easily say, I have been struggling with this for a while and I have been praying to God for an answer, or healing, or whatever it is you have been praying for. And now, out of His goodness and grace I have received this good news. He gets the praise and the thanks and all the glory. It is short and sweet and to the point and you have just thrown spiritual confetti all over the place.

When we speak of the gospel, we are literally saying good news. That is what gospel means…good news. We could throw confetti all the time if we really look around at all the amazing things God has done and continues to do. How about a handful of confetti because our God is so big that He was able to create the whole world yet personal enough to know how many hairs are on our heads. How about a handful of confetti because God saw His people dying in sin and He loved us enough to send His Son to pay the price, endure His wrath so we don’t have to. Confetti because He forgave our sins, and we have eternal life with Him.

The psalmist threw confetti here. Psalm 145:6-8. “Men shall speak of the power of your awesome acts, and I will tell of your greatness. They shall eagerly utter the memory of your abundant goodness and will shout joyfully of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful.” Peter wrote these words, “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8.  More confetti.

But it isn’t just us who had confetti to throw. Moses, Miriam, and Aaron along with the Israelites celebrated because God not only led them through the Red Sea, but He kept the Egyptians at bay so they would be safe. That is a confetti occasion. The apostle Paul liked to throw confetti while he was in prison.  He sang spiritual songs, taught, and prayed with people, even in the darkness, dampness and cold of Roman prisons. The psalmist was especially good at throwing confetti at God for who God is and what God has done.  Joseph threw confetti when he was finally released from pharaoh’s dungeon and Daniel had a supply when the king came to let him out of the lion’s den.

Thomas doubted Jesus resurrection until Jesus came into the room where all the disciples were, and he could see Jesus wounds. Jesus had indeed risen from the dead. That was a confetti occasion if there ever was one. Even Mary threw confetti when Gabriel told her she would be the one to bear God’s Son. Picture it, Mary says my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior. Now throw the confetti in the air.

At a time when there seems to be more bad news than good, when people are scared or angry or exhausted, it might not hurt to carry a supply of confetti with us. We need to celebrate the good news every chance we get.

In His Grip
Pastor Matt W