The Many Facets of Christmas

Much has been written about and myriad sermons have been preached about Christmas.  What is remarkable is how - like a beautifully cut diamond, sparkling brilliantly under the light, regardless of the viewing angle - every year a new truth about Christ(mas) can pierce one's heart and bring new knowledge, wonder, and joy.  Some of this has to do with how easily we humans forget.  I try to read through the same book each year (though this year I've not kept up) during Advent, and often I'm touched or challenged by the same things I've underlined in years past.  But there are always new things that jump out at me from the unmarked paragraphs.  So the fact that Christmas can "get us" every year, has not only to do with the inability of our brains to retain information, but also to do with the magnitude and awesomeness of Almighty God and what occurred the night Christ was born.  Were we to ponder the Christmas story alone for the rest of our days, we could never plumb the depths of the all to be found there.  But OH! - our hearts would be so full of joy!!

I wonder what aspects of the Christmas story are particularly pricking your heart this year?  Light and hope came into the world in the form of a baby; his arrival was announced to shepherds and ascertained by learned men.  In the unseen world, satan and his demons trembled as God began to fulfill the prophesies.  In the throne room of Herod, jealousy mounted and murder resulted.  As Andrew Peterson begins one of the songs on his Christmas album, It was not a silent night.

But it was a wonderful night that demands a response, just as it did way back then.

Let's wonder and awe at the work of God on that first Christmas.  Let's listen to what God is speaking to our hearts this Christmas and ask Him to drive it home as we enter the new year.  Let's worship with the angels, the shepherds, the wise men, Joseph, and Mary and say:

Glory to God in the highest!

Luke 2:14a

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and pray that Light will shine into the dark places of your lives and give you new hope this year, because

For to us a child is born,

    to us a son is given,

    and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

That is the Good-est GOOD NEWS ever told!