Here it is, the first day of the New Year. Wow: What a wild ride 2021 has been. What saddens me when the holiday season ends is the makeshift mangers on church lawns goes empty again. All that remains is the rickety roof, and bit of straw, and another year must go by before we find the occupants having returned and the manger full.
But that is what is so miraculous about Christmas. The manger was filled with not just animals, a mother giving birth and kings who sought the true King, but it is always filled with light.
No one puts together a manger and leaves it dark. Some kind of light is present; that is truly how God works. His light led the children of Israel across the desert and His light is there to lead us.
In other words, Jesus is there, waiting for us, no matter how far we wander away.
The manger fills up each year with the hope of Christmas.
Yet, there is a divine irony here.
The tomb was filled with the broken body of Christ. We don't go to a tomb set up on a lawn and expect to see a linen-wrapped body.
Nor do we set up a cross with a suffering Servant upon it.
The tomb doesn't fill up year after year, nor does the cross.
Both are empty for the Lord of the Universe, the King of kings and the very Son of God has a new residence: our hearts. We only have to call upon His name and He comes and stays in our hearts, year after year. And if we should wander away, He is only a prayer away.
Blessings on you in 2022.
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