The Day is near. Christmas 2009 is less than 24 hours away. Christmas is much more than a day, a season or a collection of memories and rituals that families observe in December. Christmas for Christians, is a lens through which we endeavor to view all things -- the universe of our Creator and His purpose for us -- every day of the year.
However, it can be difficult at times to comprehend God's plan for us. After all, how are we to discern our minuscule role surrounded by the magnitude and enormity of His creation? In fact, in most families we can become so distracted by the daily challenges, demands and routines of living that we sometimes neglect to seek His purpose at all.
Sometimes we lose our bearing, direction, and begin to feel disconnected from God. That sense of separation can cause great distress in our lives.
What I have learned (at considerable personal cost) about being disconnected from God is that this division is always the result of my looking to the world for purpose, identity and value rather than our Creator. Inevitably, after some consternation, I awaken to the reality that our cultural compasses are perpetually disorienting. You always get lost!
Contemporary culture relentlessly encourages us, even seduces us, to irrevocably link our identity to its trappings -- what we do, what we have, who we're with, and the like. But all of these connections are temporal. In the end, if we take our bearings from the culture around us, we are destined to experience emptiness, which it then offers to fill with various distractions and forms of sedation.
We must look up before we look out -- we must look to God in order to understand His purpose for us in the world. Indeed, if we define our purpose in cultural terms, or worse, if we try to understand Him through the world's lens, we are destined to remain lost. Hebrews (11:1) says..... "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Do you ever feel distant and disconnected from God? In those times when we sense our Creator's absence, that sense is itself a strong affirmation of His presence. God has built into us a deep desire to know Him and to be in unity with Him. When we are not (and have not filled that void with cultural fodder), the emptiness we feel is ample confirmation of His presence. God is always near, even if temporarily obscured from our senses.
When we make God our North Star, we are guided precisely along the path He has prepared for us, even though we do not know where it will lead us. When we lose sight of our North Star, we must hold steady our direction until we find His guiding light again, correct our course and carry on.
God is a unique and special source of light. His light overtakes darkness only if we focus our eyes towards God and the things of God. We are always looking for light, for brightness, in a chaotic world dominated by darkness and false hopes. We tend to flirt along the edges of darkness, walking in deep shadows. “Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead." (Isaiah 59:10)
When we do open the eyes of our heart, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." (Isaiah 9:2)
Indeed, "Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart." (Psalm 97:11)
It is no small irony that a Christmas star guided the wise men from the East to the Christ child in Bethlehem: "After they had heard [Herod], they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed." (Matthew 2:9-10)
The birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of ages old prophecies. Even in the generation of His time His closest friend the Apostle John wrote... "The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world." (John 1:9)
Jesus described himself in terms of light: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)
And to those who follow him, he instructed: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)
In the midst of all the daily activities in our homes during the Christmas season and everyday of the year, we must affirm and reaffirm that Jesus is the Light of the World. That He is our leader and our strength in a world filled with darkness. God provides... we can count on Him to always fulfill His promises and provide for our needs. Let your prayer this Christmas Day and every day afterward flow from grateful hearts and joyful spirits. Grateful in heart to our Provider and Joyful in spirit as a reflection of our gratitude for His unbounding love, mercy and grace.
This prayer, I believe, draws upon the essence of Christmas, upon the essence of God's gift to us. It calls on us to once again open our eyes and see the One True Light of the World... Jesus, the Christ.
In those moments when we feel apart from God and seem to have lost our way, we must ask ourselves, "Who or what am I serving?" That question will inevitably reveal some master we have lifted up from the culture around us. It compels us to examine where we are... walking in the shadows of darkness or in the light on God’s path to eternity.
Be thankful for Christmas and its true meaning. For it is one more chance to commit your life to our Lord and Savior.
I wish peace and God's blessing upon you and your family.
Merry Christmas!
