“On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
nine ladies dancing…”
The nine ladies mentioned here are representative of the
nine fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These nine are things that are to be
natural outcroppings of the life that is lived by the Spirit of God.
These nine things are things that are a part of the life
of the Christ Follower. It’s not optional. If you are a Christian, there ought
to be a concern in your soul if there is little or no evidence of these things
in your life. The 9 ladies ought to remind you that if the fruit of the Spirit
is not showing itself in your life, then you need to ask why that is, and take
the necessary steps to make sure that this fruit is being born out in your
life.
“On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
ten lords a-leaping…”
(I'm pretty sure the song isn't talking about SITH lords, but...)
The ten lords are representative of the Ten Commandments.
These foundational laws from the Mosaic Law are the summary laws of the Old
Testament, and reiterated for us in two commands given by the Lord Jesus. These
ten commands given to us tell us how we should love our God and our neighbors.
The first four commands (No other gods before Him, no
idols, don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, and keep the Sabbath day holy) all
relate to how we show God we love Him. They have to do with the vertical relationship
between us and God and are vital to our relationship with Him.
The last six commands (Honor dad and mom, don’t murder,
don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t covet) all have to do with
how we treat our neighbors. These have to do with the horizontal relationships
we have with each other, and if we want to have healthy relationships, these
six things ought to be regular parts of the Christian life.
So watch your life and see if you are living out the
fruit of the Spirit and the Ten Commandments…and we’ll see you on Sunday!
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