For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. – Luke 6:43-44a

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. – Galatians 5:19-23a

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. – James 2:17

Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. … As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. – Matthew 13:5-6, 20-21

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. – 1 John 1:19

If you love Me, you will keep my commandments. – John 14:15

Did God create the universe in 6 days? Or is a “day” a metaphor for a much longer time period. I don’t doubt that God did, indeed, create the universe. But I’m not totally convinced that He did it in literally six 24-hour days. Not that I doubt He has the power to. It’s just that science (which is the analysis of God-created nature) suggests that the Earth’s age is millions of years old, and that there were much larger time-frames between when certain things existed on the Earth. So, if the analysis of God’s creation shows that the Earth’s origin happened over long periods of time, why not believe that was so? No one’s saying God is any less powerful. Just that He chose to create the Earth in that manner. But He still created it.

I don’t believe science and God are mutually exclusive. If God created the universe, then he also created the laws of nature, and therefore the laws of science. There is a way Creationism and carbon dating can be explained without contradiction. So, with our limited knowledge of science, why not assume that the language of the Bible is metaphoric, when talking about creation? Does it hurt to allow science to educate our interpretation of the Scriptures?

To me, the time in which creation took place is much less important than the fact that God was in fact the Creator.

On another note, God clearly gives man the authority to have dominion over all the animals, plants, and living things on the Earth. This chapter makes no mention of abusing this authority — just that man does have authority. Animals do not have the same “rights” as humans.

- Isaiah 40:29-31

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

- 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Upon the dreary desolate road, a few court advisers from Mesopotamia travel westward to Jerusalem. A great supernova in the night sky guides them on their journey, and stalled this journey is, as the men pause in Jerusalem to question its king, Herod the Great, on the impending mystery of their journey.

“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” they question, “For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

Clearly taken aback by this supposed “King of the Jews,” Herod, the king of Jerusalem himself, becomes troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. In a confused hurry, the great Herod gathers all the chief priests and scribes of the people together into his omniscient, authoritative chamber.

“Who is this Christ!?” he inquires in helpless shock. “And where is He to be born?”

Those learned in the ancient Scriptures immediately respond, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”

In a state of rabid anxiety, Herod secretly calls the Mesopotamian travelers to him to determine from them what time the great, supernatural star appeared in the night sky. He then sends them all to Bethlehem, expressing, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

Tickled to be on their way to Bethlehem and to be continuing their ever momentous mission, the travelers depart the king to make their short trip to Bethlehem. And behold, the star which they had seen in the East advances before them until it reaches and looms over where the young Child is.

Ecstatic at the sight of the star, the weary travelers celebrate in an almost insane joy. With large smiles holding up their journey-ridden faces, the men enter the house and see the young, now one-year-old Child along side His mother, Mary. Overwhelmed at the sight of the young Boy, they fall down and worship Him.

The men then pull treasures out of their bundled luggage. The gifts are opened and presented to the Child: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

After their wonderous meeting with the Messiah, the men leave and are later divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod. Herod doesn’t really want to come worship the Child, but rather deceived the travelers and, instead, desires to slay the Child Messiah. So, the court advisers (or wise men as they are sometimes called) depart for their own country a different way than they came.

They head eastward with a new radiant joy molded onto their faces, with a little more pep in their walk and with a little less luggage on their backs. The wise men from Mesopotamia have accomplished their great task. They have seen and worshiped the new “King of the Jews”; the prophesied Son of God; Jesus Christ, the Messiah.