Wednesday, December
20, 2017
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, “The day of
judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will
be burned up like straw. They will be consumed—roots, branches, and
all. “But for you who fear my name, the
Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like
calves let out to pasture. On the day
when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your
feet,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Remember to obey the Law of Moses, my
servant—all the decrees and regulations that I gave him on Mount Sinai for
all Israel. Malachi 4:1-4(NLT)
If you’ve lived more than a few cycles as our earth continues its spinning
journey around the sun, you are more than aware it’s not just an endless
merry-go-round; there is a point to all this rising, working and laying down to
rest. That point was made clear in a
barn one cold night two thousand years ago, as the child of a teenaged mother lay
sleeping in a cattle feeder. Kings,
shepherds, and the yard’s animals witnessed the timely fulfillment of God’s
promise to send Christ, the Redeemer – the Daystar who would rise with healing
in his wings. And they rejoiced.
The birth of Jesus the Messiah is retold countless times each year at
this time in Sunday School plays, cantatas, musicals, drive-through nativity
productions, and Hallmark movies. We
celebrate with gift-giving, parties, family get-togethers, and piles of
Christmas cards the mail carriers lug to our mailboxes. But there is much more than tinsel, wrap, and
bulging VISA bills.
This season opens a cycle that should provoke thoughts, deep thoughts, of
why all this
preparation and movement. The Christian
calendar begins with Advent because the end of the cycle celebrates more than a
babe in Mary’s arms; we have Good Friday and Easter Sunday which give depth to
all the cycles. And closing the cycle is
the celebration of Christ the King…where a virgin-born child, preacher, healer,
teacher, prophet, Great High Priest, crucified, buried, raised from the dead, and
ascended to His Father, has come again to bring judgment and healing.
This is the meaning of our lives, our very existence. We don’t live to breathe in and out; we
breathe in and out to stand witness to He who is life, and has opened his heart
and arms wide to receive us with joy.
The meaning of our lives is like calves turned out to the pasture to play:
the picture of pure, unbridled, and
carefree joy!
For You
Today
When you gather with friends, family, or neighbors in homes, church
services, or public events this season, try to keep the manger’s straw in
perspective; think of the full cycle and why that babe came in the first place.
And rejoice!
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