Enthusiastically, Dawn

Here we sit on the brink of a new year. It’s Christmas Eve day…and in the story that comes to us at the end of each year, the story of one child born, the hope of a nation, the hope of the world…the hope of humanity and every living creature abides in this one everlasting moment in time. So here we are, on the brink of everything.

My prayer is that you find hope today in these words. May God bless your reading, as I believe He has me in writing them this day. All praise, glory, honor to Him.

How we long for and yearn- all of us- for the fresh start that comes at the start of a new calendar year. The same kind of hope is bound up in a bundle of joy, swaddled tight. How we do also welcome the birth of a tiny, new baby. All things new. The beginning of a new life, the hope of a new year. How these hopes intermingle, fill us with something powerful, mystical, precious.

The Christmas story, the true story, of the God who has come in Christ- the baby born to die, to bring new life, to be to us- salvation and eternal life, is a never-ending story, of hope, fresh starts, and full of the possibility of happy endings. But there is a whole lot more to the story, as many of us know. The story of God and the hope at the start of a new year are closely connected in more ways than just the calendar and subtle implications. Because all hope does indeed rest on this one true story. Truth be told, everything rests on this one ever-unfolding, glorious story. And isn’t that what we all crave at the end of each year? Like a child at bedtime wanting just one more story, our souls yearn for one more story, one more chance, one more fresh start.

And God, our patient parent, holds out His hand, lays out His heart in Christ, and whispers, ‘Yes, child. Come up here on my lap, though the hour is getting late,  I will tell you one more time …because I love you.’ 

It begins again, but not at the beginning, but here, now at the foot of the manger. Christmas, when we are reminded to believe – to become like a child, not at the malls, not in front of the screens, not with the ceaseless asking for more, but the child we all once were, before we became hardened by the wounds and scars of this world.

To hope again as we see – as we bend our knees, at the side of that dirty crib peering in, and gaze into the eyes of the One who bowed his own majesty, taking on human form, crouched low from the heavenlies, embraced humanity by entrusting himself to us who are everwayward, wanting, and weak. And this child is still the one in whom all hope for humanity remains.

That God became as one life, embodied in one man, making himself the only sufficient sacrifice able to fulfill all requirements of the foundational law of life. That the child born was the one who came to save us from what we could never have saved ourselves, nor anyone else from…sin.

There is only one who is able to save us from our sin…and ourselves. His name, his precious, beautiful name, is Jesus. and He has fulfilled God’s desire to dwell among His people. Christ in us- the hope of glory! God with us, Emmanuel. And all hope for humanity turns now to the manger. Again and again we look to this one baby- born to die, born that we might live, and that God might have His way in us, through us, with us…in Christ, through Christ for Christ!

May we be comforted this holiday season as we approach the manger. May we not look away, may we not turn our back on this child, may we not dismiss the story. May we not be so familiar, so hard in our hearts that we dismiss our only hope. This miracle born of God is destined to- has already begun to change the world. Do not be distracted. Do not be discouraged. Yet, He is calling, seeking, still desiring for His sheep- all of them– to come home.

Let us seek the Lord while He may yet be found. Pause…stop, bend before the manger, before the hope of the world. Seek Him who has bowed so low to seek you, his child, so that you might see the hope of Jesus Christ shine everlasting light on you, and in you, and through you. May He be to you not just an old story, but your very hope and glory.

Dear one, may you- may we all– gaze upon our savior, the only one true and living God, and see Him fully. May He be our hope, our joy, our peace, and secure salvation. May your new year be full of new desire to seek the one who came to seek the lost – even me. Maybe you too?

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

(Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV)

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and thank you for reading!

Enthusiastically, Dawn