Day 10 of Advent

Pastor Kristi (2004)

What can I bring him?  This year, what comes to mind is a sense of wonder. I will bring a sense of wonder. Sure, as I get pulled into the crazy machine that our culture calls Christmas, I wonder what I should buy for my brother. I wonder how we’ll fit everything into the calendar. I wonder about the balance in my checking account. That, of course, is not the kind of wonder I want to bring to Jesus.

The Polar Express has long been a favorite among my children’s Christmas books. This year it has been made into a feature length film starring Tom Hanks. It is about a little boy who never loses his sense of wonder about the Christmas season. As his friends and his sister become adults, they forget the amazement of their childhood Christmases, but he is unique because he never does. He can always connect to the joy and the mystery that is Christmas. We all want to be that boy.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, testifies that her soul magnifies the Lord. To magnify means to make greater, or to increase. I am amazed each year at the opportunities to share Christ with others through the holidays. It feels somehow refreshing and simple in a back-to-basics way to be determinedly Christ-centered through all the chaos of the season.

This year I bring a sense of wonder. I wonder at the beauty and simplicity of an infant, born quietly one dark night. I wonder at the wise teacher that the baby became. I wonder at the miracles that he performed. I wonder at the amazing love of his sacrifice. I pray that my soul, too, can magnify the Lord.  Amen.   Blessings….

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Jim N. (2004)

What can I give to Jesus?

Over the past few months, I have thought about this.  Bob Dylan has a song called, “What Can I Do For You?”  It is a song about the Messiah. One verse is as follows:
    “Pulled me out of bondage and You made me renewed inside,
    Filled up a hunger that had always been denied,
     Opened up a door no man can shut and You opened it up so wide
     And You’ve chosen me to be among the few.
     What can I do for you?”
As I read the scriptures this year, I find there are only a few things I can do.  I can submit, I can be thankful, I can love; I can give myself as an empty vessel for the Lord to fill.

Jesus tells me in Galatians 5:20-33 to give thanks for everything, to submit to Him and to love my wife as He loves the church.  In Hebrews 12:9b, I am told to submit and live.  “Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live?” 

In Deuteronomy 10:12 I am told to love God with all that I am.  “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you except to fear the Lord your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, and to worship the Lord your god with all your heart and all your soul?

Jesus says love is all important. He says it is the most important thing. In Mark 12:30-31. “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”  The second is: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

In Luke 6:27, Jesus says the following, “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”  

I am only living because God created me. I only have hope for the future because Jesus, the Messiah came here and lived among us, gave up His rightful place in heaven and became a sacrifice for me.  Jesus pursued me; He sought me as a lost, lonely soul.  He prepared my heart to recognize Hi and He gave me the heart and mind to let Him into my life.

For me there is nothing I can give, except Faithfulness, Love, Thanksgiving and one day thru many prayers and lifting up of empty hands (Psalm 141:2), maybe I will be a pleasant fragrance for the Lord (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).  Then, maybe I can go home.