Are you preparing for Christmas? There’s a lot to do for most of us. What’s your favorite? One of things I like the most about Christmas is all the lights. As I’ve been driving around this month: to & from work, to & from the hospital, the nursing home, and your homes, I enjoy watching the neighborhoods brighten every evening, with more lights.
During the time of year when daylight is most scarce, Read more…
Everyone is looking for something.
When it comes to Christmas, some people are looking for a bargain. There’s a good chance you’ll find a deal on material goods this season, with the shape the economy is in. So, that’s something to be thankful for.
Some people are looking for a family blessing. Perhaps it’s a reunion, a loved one to return from military service or to travel across country just this once. Maybe it’s reconciliation, a healing of a relationship that’s been in conflict.
Some look for love, for luck, for leisure. Some look for fun and happiness. Looking for something…?
Christmas calls us to look for what God is doing.
Looking for signs of God’s PRESENCE. God is at work, whether you see it or not. God is near, not far. When we raise our sights, look to the Lord, and let go of our worldly distractions, we may better see the way, and the One who wants to Guide us along that Way.
Looking for signs of God’s PROMISE. Promise is that Christ is going to return to earth in final victory. There are indications that Christ’s return could be soon. The Bible teaches:
“In the last days, people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tim. 3:1-4).
This is what happens when humanity lives without promise. We look to self. That solution doesn’t solve; it only perpetuates the problems in the world.
Have you ever bought something that doesn’t work? You have to return it. I’ve always found this chore annoying. I wish that people made products of higher quality. I’m looking for someone to make things right.
Things just aren’t right with the world. But, when Christ returns, God will set things right (forever). “Behold, I am making all things new.” I like that promise. There are a lot of people – for whom the stakes are much higher than for me – who are waiting for justice, looking for the truth to be told, awaiting a future reconciliation, looking for what is right. For you, for those of us who know that God has a higher purpose for us & for the world, God’s promise and presence are essential.
And when we walk in God’s presence, alive with promise, the world may see the Truth of Christmas.