The long wait is over. The promised one has come in wonderous circumstances which should cause us to be in awe of our great God. The shepherds left the manger just like that, unaware of what was to come some 30 years later.
Today we are even more blessed than those, very few, who saw the child in the manger and the Magi who visited later, for we know how the child in the manger became the Saviour on the cross.
In the light of this knowledge the question must surely be
How then should we live?
In the final six blogs of 2021 I want to share some answers to that key question as the significance of the Incarnation and the Death, Resurrection and Ascension of the Saviour of the world are increasingly ignored or even unknown by the majority of people.
As we live in a world where this is so, there is a great danger that we can slip, almost unnoticed, into the same mindset, which may not ignore these great truths but rather take them for granted. We must, therefore be intentional in our living in order to demonstrate the glorious reality of God’s promises fulfilled and that, as Christians, we are ‘in Christ.’
I begin with Malachi 6.8
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
These words were written as a challenge to the people of Israel before Christ came and they set a standard for God’s people for all time which is demanding and challenging but is not changed by the coming of Christ but rather made of even more importance.
In a sense this is the gold standard and the coming of Christ makes it more achievable because the cross makes such living a heart response to the way of salvation that has been opened for us, and we have the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, and this word of God through Micah is truth,
So as we continue to celebrate Christmas let us resolve to:-
do what is good
do justice
love kindness and
walk humbly with our God.
Think what impact such living could have on the world in which we live, as people see that the message of Christmas does not stop at midnight on 25th December but drives every part of our lives.