December 1st
David and his Dad were in the dentist waiting room. There was no real panic today, as it was only a check-up and David had been cleaning his teeth every day. It was the beginning of December and David had been hearing the Christmas story (once again) at school. After a long silence, David asked…
“Why are we still waiting after more than 2,000 years, for Jesus to be born?”
“Well, I guess it’s because we still have lots to learn; so, we tell the story every year.”
“But was Jesus really born in December?”
“We can’t be 100% sure, but what’s important is that we remember what really happened, and why God became man.”
“Is there anything God can’t do?”
“Yes my boy, he can’t break promises and he can’t stop loving us.”
Advent is a time of anticipation that something quite amazing is going to happen. That our creator God, would take on the form of a vulnerable baby – and enter our world.
It’s quite sad to think that much of this is hidden beneath the busyness of our physical preparations: ordering the turkey, decorations, over the top spending – you know the feeling?
Yet the meaning of Christmas seems far off, both in time and distance. Could we again, wait in anticipation, excitement – of something totally amazing that is about to happen? To step out, from under the busyness, enter the story and become part of it.
God promises new life, in a way we can’t fully understand till we accept it. But it is finding the true way we were created to live, that provides a sense of fulness and peace of heart – that’s what we secretly long for.
We don’t always use the word “Incarnation” and it’s a difficult word to understand; that when God became man – he was both totally man and totally God.
Luke 1:26-28 The Birth of Jesus Foretold
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”
Prayer
Father God, creator of everything seen and unseen. You entered our darkness in the form of a child. May we open our hearts to your love and recognise the simplicity of your word and follow you. Help me to see the child like qualities in my life and accept you as part of my story. The story that is not locked in time, but as real today as it was in the beginning. Amen.
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Tomorrow – Imagination