Christmas Eve is TODAY...can you believe it? There is so much that still needs to be done for so many of us before we can declare ourselves "ready," but what does it mean to truly be "ready" for Christmas?
The road that led Mary and Joseph to the place where Jesus would be delivered was full of challenge, anxiety, and danger, but the love of GOD kept them on the path so the world could know the Lord of HOPE, JOY, PEACE, and LOVE.
The proverbial roads that we each are taking to Christmas this year are as varied and diverse as we are. Through the ups and downs, victories and defeats, triumphs and trials of this year (and of life for that matter), our many roads will converge at the humble manger...a feeding trough that cradled Jesus, the Bread of Life.
If your road has been full of strangers and dangers this year, know that love is waiting for you at the manger. If your road has been full of darkness, know that the Light of the World still shines, piercing the darkness that cannot understand it. At the manger — as the beautiful hymn, "O Little Town of Bethlehem," states — "the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight."
I pray that you persevere on your individual road to the manger to find the Living Lord...Immanuel...GOD with us waiting for you there. Jesus was sent to be our hope, to be our joy, to be our peace, to be our love, and to be our light. Come and allow His creating and re-creating hand to dispel the darkness, the lovelessness, peacelessness, joylessness, and hopelessness so you will find the life GOD has in store for you!
If you are tired and weary, joyful and jubilant, lost and lonely, or just seemingly on cruise control, may your road lead you to the manger where you will find Jesus, the point in which life and eternity converge.
GOD Bless, Merry Christmas, and I hope to see you Christmas Eve,
Pastor Mark
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.
(1 John 4:9, NLT)
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