It’s Christmas — for 12 full days, and there ought not to be tears! This is a joyous time, filled with sweet dreams and dancing sugar-plum fairies, and yet we know that for many, the stress of Christmas expectations and lost hopes can lead to difficult days.
Jesus’ life must have been like that too. Hope in the life of a newborn baby — of whom the angels sang — Jesus’ life was the promise of God’s love “in the flesh.” However, shortly after his birth, Joseph had to bundle up his little family and once again set off on a perilous journey, because Emperor Herod’s men were searching to find and kill this “new born king.”
“Run,” the angel proclaimed, and so began the early life of Jesus — as a refugee in a foreign land.
Many in our neighbourhood know what it’s like to struggle day by day. Did you know that almost 700 Christmas baskets were delivered in the Delta area this Christmas? I still think that God weeps to know that so many are hungry and need just a little extra help this year.
But I also know that God’s heart is filled with hope and love — because there is an active team out there working to ensure that everyone who is in need will find some joy on Christmas day.
May God’s hope and love fill your heart this Christmas — so that God’s heart will be joy-filled again. Merry Christmas to you all!
