Saturday, December 25, 2021

“Rest and Reset”

All is quiet. All is calm, and all is bright. Finally, Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem last night. After a long, pregnant journey, they can finally rest. Or can they?

I would love to think that the baby Jesus didn’t cry when he needed something. I would also love to think that baby Jesus slept through every night from the time he was born. But that would be stretching things, wouldn’t it? Were Mary and Joseph able to rest after the birth of the baby?

When I think of the Holy family, it’s difficult for me to not think about the challenges that they would face from a world that doesn’t always want to be saved. From reading the Bible, I know that they would not experience “Rest” for a while, if at all. However, “Rest” may not have been the objective. Instead, I think the purpose of Christmas was a “Reset”, or a new beginning.

New beginnings are not always quiet. Nor are they always Peaceful or Joyful. New beginnings don’t always feel Loving, either. But that’s okay. We don’t need the Rest as much as we need the Reset. It is the need for Reset that Jesus entered the world. We need a do-over. We need a new deal.

Christmas represents that new beginning that all of us could use. Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus didn’t have an easy life. They were not fabulously wealthy and there were plenty of times of great struggle. But that didn’t matter. God still chose them, and God still chose us. God chose to endure great challenges so that all of us might have Hope.

Today is Christmas. It’s a day of Reset. Christ has come, In Us and With Us, to change and reset Us. All is calm and all is bright because God chose to give us the Light of His Love. Because of Christ, we can start over and be His Light in a dark world.

May Christmas shine bright in Us today, Forever and Always, as we carry Christ to the world! Christ The Savior is Born!

Merry Christmas!

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12, ESV).