THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

ON THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: EIGHT MAIDS A-MILKING

The Eight Maids a-milking represents the eight Beatitudes: 1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, 2) those who mourn, 3) the meek, 4) those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 5) the merciful, 6) the pure in heart, 7) the peacemakers, 8) those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. (Matthew 5: 3-10)

The Beatitudes are extremely important in the lives of Christians, as all of us can relate to some, if not all of them. Most of us have been at one time or another, in poor spirit. We, have all mourned. We have been meek, or we know someone who is. Do we not, as Christians always hunger and thirst to be righteous in all that we do? Mercy is an important aspect of being a Christian, showing mercy is being Christlike, there should always be mercy in our hearts. Pure in heart, oh, don't we all strive to have pure hearts. Not always do we accomplish that, but we know that God in His infinite mercy will aid us in this, all we need to do is ask Him in Jesus' name. Peacemakers are we, right? We intervene in scraps between children and siblings, we help them to find solutions and common ground, and encourage forgivness. Many Christians have been peacemakers on a larger scale, but a peacemaker in God's eyes are blessed, regardless of the scale. Persecuted for the sake of righteousness, Like the Christians of old, we are once again being persecuted. Public worship is being removed from our way of life in this country. We, as Christians, must remain steadfast in our resolve to bring God to the forefront in society, to encourage revival, and this time of year especially, it should be our goal to keep "Christ" in Christmas. We show the world who we are, by our words, acts and deeds. Without Christ, there would be no Christmas Season. That truth needs to be told. Pray for the conversion of Islam, and God's conviction upon our country's leaders. Amen