Merry Post-Christmas! Advent is over...or is it?
PRAY for the Holy Spirit to give us a hunger for more of Christ everyday!
READ Matthew 28.
REFLECT
We've spent four weeks anticipating Christmas, and now that it's come and gone, I always feel a slight sense of emptiness. What do I have to look forward to next, cleaning up? I'm thankful for New Year's. It gives me a sense that there is more. The women who went to the tomb went to clean up Jesus' body. They felt they had some unfinished business, but that was going to be the end of it, and they probably had no inkling as to what they were supposed to do after that. The eleven apostles didn't even bother to go and check on things. But the angel gave them more Good News - Jesus was risen! And He was going to meet them in Galilee. And eventually they'd make their way back to Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit would come. And the story would continue. The fake news of the theft of the body was never going to hold up. God was doing more, building His church by telling His disciples to make disciples! And we expect Jesus to return!
RESPOND
Sometimes I think that Christians do not know what to do between celebrating Christmas (Jesus' birth), Easter (Jesus' resurrection), and the promised return (Jesus' Second Coming). Even the disciples, well, some of them had their doubts in Matthew 28:17. Do you doubt that Jesus is coming back? The way the world is, we need Jesus to come back. This confirms that Jesus isn't done yet. So what do we do while we're waiting? We do not have to feel that emptiness, that sudden let-down that December 26 often brings. God the Spirit is working in and through us every day. Do you want to experience more of God? Read and pray and worship God daily - it's not an academic exercise or a review session to get ready for the Final Exam - it's a relationship that we can enjoy daily! And serve others and make disciples - this is what God has told us to do, so if we want to experience God, we need to do the activity that God is doing! That's where we'll meet God! If we're sitting at home while all our friends are at the park, we cannot complain that they didn't include us if we chose not to go. We cannot complain about God not showing up if He told us to go somewhere and do something but we choose to do something else. The disciples had to go to Galilee, then return to Jerusalem. They still had to follow...and when they did, they experienced God in power and fullness of grace. Let's go! God's leading us! Let's keep going! There's more! Merry Christmas and Merry Post-Christmas!
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