Thoughts for the Day

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord. Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in your midst. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem. Be silent, all people, before the Lord; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Can you remember Christmas Eve when you were a child - your excitement as Christmas Day got closer and closer? Can you remember being unable to sleep, or of waking up at some very early hour? Did you have a small stocking to open to keep you quiet, or were you sent back to bed?

Of course in many countries families will open their presents on Christmas Eve, but the excitement generated over the preceding days will be the same. Sometimes, as in our family we didn't open our presents until after Christmas lunch, since I often had two or three services to take on Christmas morning. There would be stockings of small things for the morning, and then we would eat Christmas lunch and clear it away, before opening our real presents.

The prophet Zechariah says that God will come and dwell with His people, and as Christians we believe that is what happened when God's Son was born in Bethlehem all those years ago. But today as adults do we look forward with the kind of anticipation we once had as a child waiting for the coming of Christmas Day? Do we look forward eagerly to the celebration of the birth of the baby who sought to reunite us with God? Perhaps we can put aside a few moments today to thank God for all that He was given us.

Lord Jesus,
as we await the celebration
of your arrival in a stable,
help us to put You back into Christmas
and remember what the day is really about
whether we spend our day alone or
together with loved ones.
Amen.