A Joyful Christmas coming up?
As we begin the month of December, the year is certainly not ending as any of us would have expected back in January. How will you approach these final weeks? With rejoicing or fretting?
Do you anticipate a joyful Christmas? Is there anything left to celebrate? Perhaps many of the things you hoped to do have been banned. We have found that one of the challenges of lockdown is that it limits the quantity and depth of relating to each other and perhaps that is felt most keenly at Christmas. We humans are built for relationships.
Proverbs 8:30-31 says,
Then I was constantly at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
rejoicing always in his presence,
rejoicing in his whole world
and delighting in the human race.
It is a poem about wisdom but the Bible reveals that Jesus is ultimately the one who fulfils the patterns and person of wisdom. These verses therefore give us a breath-taking insight into the delight, the joy and the laughter between the Father and Son at creation. The Son delights in the Father and in creation – especially in men and women, made in his image – made for joyful relationship.
So, yes, we may miss out on some happy gatherings this Christmas. But we have an invitation to join the Father, Son and Spirit in an ongoing celebration, full of deep and lasting joyful relationships.
This Christmas season may be tough, but because of Jesus we are invited the greatest celebration of them all.