Knee Jerk Devotional: Christmas, 2020
John 3:31-36
Passage:
The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth.
"The One that God sent speaks God's words. And don't think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn't see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that."
Life complete and forever!
Merry Christmas to you and yours! Our family is going to be having a quiet day at home. We will be missing our favorite tradition of spending Christmas morning with my mom. But, nonetheless we will celebrate! For Christ has come! Light has broken through the darkness and today we celebrate! We choose to celebrate! Today, we choose unfettered joy!
Why?
Because when you accept and trust the Son you get in on everything, life complete and forever!
This alone ought to consistently change our crying to laughter and make sorrow cease. Joy comes this morning! Not a fleeting happiness but an eternal joy. The joy that lives in the center of your being. In your darkest moments this joy is wrapped in hope, hope of life complete and forever.
Jesus’ coming is not some grim thing where he comes just to die on the cross and rise again. No, his coming is joyful because he comes to make us whole, he is the bringer of eternal shalom. His coming marks the point where we can see inside heaven and know the way to life complete and forever.
What is the glimpse?
The glimpse is the same that Scrooge got on his nighttime journey.
That is, to keep Christmas well all year.
Or another way of saying it is, practice a subversive-gracious-love.
Or even simpler — #LoveWell.
Merry Christmas dear friends! May you keep it all year. Keep it in your hearts. Keep it in your deeds.
Love. Well.