Since it’s the new year, part of me wants to jump right in (or
write in) and begin devotions on a new book, but another part isn’t quite ready
to pack the holidays away. (If you saw
my house, you would agree!) So, until
the 12 Days of Christmas have been counted down completely, let’s linger a bit
longer around the manger.
Babies grow fast, especially in the Bible where we only have
one story about Jesus between His infancy and His ministry, so taking another
moment to marvel at the miracle of Bethlehem isn’t too much. Eternity itself isn’t too long to stand with
our mouths gaping, hearts pounding, and hands clapping at the simple but
stunning truth that God came here.
Here. Compelled by love,
saturated in grace, focused on sacrifice, God showed up, grew up, spoke up,
gave up, and rose up so He could lift us up.
We celebrate His advent with festive parties, joyous services,
bright lights, beautiful trees, big dinners, and lots of presents. For a few weeks our hearts seem more focused
on sharing, loving, caring, and giving than we normally find ourselves. Maybe that’s why I don’t want it to end—I want
the joy, hope, peace, generosity, and excitement that surrounds the season to
be sustained. But to be honest, there’s
no reason that it’s not.
God didn’t arrive on earth to give us one day of delight but
a forever filled with His glorious, faithful presence. His coming was only the earthly start of an
eternal story, and its result never runs old or runs out. We might re-box the lights, store the
stockings, and toss the tree, but stuff that Christmas is really made of should
stay out all the seasons of our lives.
It’s okay to pack up the decorations as long we don’t
pack away the declaration.
“The Word became a
man and moved into the neighborhood.”
John 1:14
Never stop celebrating!
No comments:
Post a Comment