Tag Archives: Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Luke 2

Posted on by

Merry Christmas!  No matter if you’re with family or not, it’s Christmas day, a time to celebrate!  For all that His birth means to us.  It’s really a lifetime of unwrapping all the gifts that make up Jesus Himself.

Just imagine a world without Him.  Unthinkable.  Dreadful.  Lacking songs and carols of hope.  No joy and wonder.  Or the laughter of little children relishing their gifts.  Missing out on the better life of giving than receiving.  A brighter future than the past or present.  For the best is yet to come.  All because of Jesus, Christmas’ best gift ever.

He’s the reason for the season, as we say.  But is he that in your life?  Or mine?  At Christmas, do I focus on Jesus preeminently?  Or on rather humdrum things?  No comment.  I’m hiding behind a pile of grandkids’ presents!  Not really.  But maybe.

So check out Luke chapter 2 today.  May need to wait ’til later in the day or even before going to bed.  Not to worry.  But read the whole chapter.  Too much to ask?  Are you kidding!  It’s got Christmas down to a T.  The in’s and out’s.  The inn and the outer stable.  Don’t speed read as I tend to.  Slow down, putting yourself in the picture.

Visualize being on Bethlehem’s hillside, tending your flock of sheep, when the sky lights up, not with Northern Lights, but with an angelic display the likes of which you’ve never seen before.  Traipse down the grassy slopes into that little town looking for the newborn babe and His parents.

Traverse the halls of Jerusalem’s Temple watching all the activities of the day, especially an old man and an old woman going gaga over a seemingly ordinary couple holding their baby boy who’s ready for circumcision, the naming ceremony and dedication to God.  Do you mean that this babe is someone special?  This little tyke?  You think?

Stand next to Simeon and Anna, hearing what they have to say about Jesus.  Celebrate already!  For it’s a day to give thanks.  And praise.  A moment without parallel as the Son of God comes among us.  Human and divine all wrapped up in One so exceptional.

It’s Jesus.  He’s still the only reason for the season.

Merry Christmas!

Thank you, Father, for sending your Son Jesus to be our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

MERRY CHRISTMAS?… Isaiah 58

Posted on by

Isaiah 58?  Whatever happened to Luke and Matthew with the stories of the manger and the inn, the Wise Men, and angels with Mary and Joseph and the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths?  Wouldn’t those be more appropriate?   Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not taking any shortcuts, leaving out the best parts.  I want to dig into a different vein. Golden nuggets from a different part of the Word of God.

Isaiah 58–why Jesus came?  The ‘why’ of Christmas.  Our sin shouted our need for God right into the heavens themselves.  Verses 2-4 tell of people who claim the name of God, but who live lives filled with pride and arrogance.   Thinking themselves high-and-mighty when in reality they live in a far country, far away from God, down-and-out.  Sadly,  they don’t even realize it.

Verse 5 sheds more light on God’s complaint–His people are His, they say, but only in a superficial way.  In name only, a hint, a smidgen of the Lord.  Shallow… with a faith that evaporates at the first sign of heat.  Religious acts, and nothing more… and a lot less.  Formality that’s smoke and mirrors.

That’s why Jesus came.  To free us from that thin veneer of faith to something that permeates deep within, to the very marrow of our bones.  Ritual acts that now result in actions of caring and helping,  supporting and encouraging.  Isaiah 58: 6 and following describe an alive faith, a relationship with the Lord that reaches out to others to help as best we can.

That’s what God did for us at Christmas. He reached out to us.   He didn’t send a postcard, an annual letter or a posting on Facebook.  No, He sent His very best, His only Son.  His actions spoke louder than mere words ever could.

This Christmas let’s not only go through the motions.  Let’s welcome the Messiah!  Let’s meditate on His generous mercy given for you and me!  And let’s be motivated to be a helping hand to someone else.  Then, this will be a Merry Christmas!

Prayer:  Dear Lord, for all your gifts we thank you today.  But for Jesus, the gift at Christmas, we pause to life high His name…with a grateful heart.  In His name.  Amen.