December 10, 2021
Scripture Resource Passage:
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel [which means “God with us]” (Matthew 1:23). A disciple’s hope begins and culminates in Christ. While businesses decorate and sell us holiday trappings, our hope cannot be found under a tree.
Disciples celebrate with foods of the holiday, adding spice-laden-flavors for taste and aroma. Many houses are filled with celebration. Some houses are filled with desperately lonely people. As the poets once asked, “…where do they all come from?”
Desserts and candies surround our celebrations like Saturn’s rings circle that planet. Sugar deprived individuals will have no trouble finding resources in our land. Offices and homes are typically filled with sweets. We may suffer from sugar’s rush coursing through our veins and arteries.
Many of us love Christmas, adding mangers with nativity figures to both our outdoor and indoor places. Other disciples avoid the outdoor Santa’s and puffy snowmen, focusing on the people and animals of Christmas night—the time of Christ’s advent.
However, during a late fall-walk through a church graveyard you will not be typically greeted with elves, a shiny-nosed reindeer, special trees or gaily wrapped packages. Instead, you might spy a hand with the upward pointing index finger proclaiming, “Here rests a disciple of Jesus who anticipates not Christmas but Christ’s return. Eyes to the sky!”
Life Applications
How do you internalize Scripture’s statement affirming that Jesus is, “God with us?”
Are you sufficiently strong to share your hope in Christ?
If you discover a person filled with loneliness this Christmas, is there an opportunity to open your life in genuine friendship?
Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Grace and peace to each of you.
Dr. Andrew Simkins 