What an energizing time of year: hustling to school programs and social events, searching for the perfect an appropriate gift for others, trying to find the best deals, last-minute running around.
"Joy to the world, the Lord is come." What a remarkable Creator who chooses to befriend us. Having read accounts of His life and gotten to know Him on a personal level, I can conceptualize the motivation behind and implications surrounding Jesus' choice to join us in this terrestrial realm.
There is joy that springs from this revelation. A joy undiminished by today's hassles, ongoing aches of the heart or body, or even political/economic rancor and upheaval. I have sinned and cannot do anything about it. Even if I were to dig into my own flesh, like Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind (an apt metaphor on several levels), it remains.
But His offer to remove it remains open-ended. It is universal, yet very personal.
"Come unto me..." He calls me to relinquish my claims to wholeness. This I must do. It is the crux of the matter. "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick." Any contention that I am healthy disrupts the physician's ability to restore health.
I am broken. My intentions and pursuits are shrouded in meanness and selfishness. I need something.... that I cannot do for myself. A new start. A new me.
I cannot help but celebrate in the gift of renewal and life that He has given me.
But His offer to remove it remains open-ended. It is universal, yet very personal.
"Come unto me..." He calls me to relinquish my claims to wholeness. This I must do. It is the crux of the matter. "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick." Any contention that I am healthy disrupts the physician's ability to restore health.
I am broken. My intentions and pursuits are shrouded in meanness and selfishness. I need something.... that I cannot do for myself. A new start. A new me.
I cannot help but celebrate in the gift of renewal and life that He has given me.
