OR "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."
We are winding up, or gearing down around Covenant, depending on who you talk to. As I walked through the school this morning as classes were gathering for devotions, there was a lot of chatter around sharing for prayer. Stories of Christmas traditions were excitedly shared: what had happened at church on Sunday, whose house they had had dinner at, and what they were looking forward to doing as the week progresses toward and into Christmas break.
This time of year and the anticipation of some time off is reminiscent of the creation story where God stopped and rested after declaring his creation 'very good'. In the advent season we work slowly toward the culmination of our time of preparation for Christmas - another 'creation' story. Just as in the creation story, where the world is spoken into being (Psalm 33:6), we are met with his rescue of His creation: the Word became flesh. (John 1:1) It is not a rest where we kick off and just stop because we feel we deserve it.... it is a pause to re-focus and intentionally gather ourselves in the realization that we have been saved from sin and find rest in God's grace.
For God so loved the world...... may you find rest in those words, and as you depart from regular routines to celebrate our Saviour, ponder the words of St. Augustine: "Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee."
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