Season of Advent and the coming new year
I find myself growing increasingly reflective as the year comes to an end. I think a fair deal of it is because the weather makes you want to get warm and snuggly with a nice book to read or a journal to log in. You wanna sip hot chocolate and not beer. Well, I guess there's always room for beer, but that's another story.
All kidding aside, I think the other part of it is the very idea that the year is ending and we're not sure if we're really wiser or if we've really accomplished anything. We have all these hopes in January, but we find life gets in the way. Before we know it, we're hearing the sleigh bells ring. I know this is true with many other folks because I see this in my live feed over and over.
We feel this way because we have nothing to show for when the year ends. We have a dozen party pictures/social outings/whatchamacallits and have had all these "epic" events happen, but we still feel pretty empty and contemplate on how the next year could be different. I really feel this is the case because we were made for missions. Yes, I realize not everyone reading this is Christian, so I'll quickly address my fellow Christians reading this note:
We're made to be a part of God's redeeming work in the world. We're all, in the body, made to be part of God's ministry of reconciliation. Why is it that you often hear Christians complaining that Christianity is boring? It's because we're made to be part of this adventure, but all we see are the constraints in the faith. We then, therefore, are either pretty bitter and upset because we're not joining in on all the fun we think we could be having, or we live lives that look no different than anyone else (or worse). There becomes nothing remarkable about us and nothing we do distinguishes us. Our hearts are left unchanged.
How do we get the power to change? I think the answer is found as we approach the Advent. We think about who Jesus is, what He came to do, and how He did it. In backwards order: Jesus came as a baby in weakness to offer to mankind the message of reconciliation and gave us a way out of all the idols we make up (family, money, relationships, social status, etc.). He did this so that He becomes Lord of our lives so that we lose the (many) lords of our own.
To everyone reading this, I urge you to take time out to contemplate about your life this past year. Who was it about?
All kidding aside, I think the other part of it is the very idea that the year is ending and we're not sure if we're really wiser or if we've really accomplished anything. We have all these hopes in January, but we find life gets in the way. Before we know it, we're hearing the sleigh bells ring. I know this is true with many other folks because I see this in my live feed over and over.
We feel this way because we have nothing to show for when the year ends. We have a dozen party pictures/social outings/whatchamacallits and have had all these "epic" events happen, but we still feel pretty empty and contemplate on how the next year could be different. I really feel this is the case because we were made for missions. Yes, I realize not everyone reading this is Christian, so I'll quickly address my fellow Christians reading this note:
We're made to be a part of God's redeeming work in the world. We're all, in the body, made to be part of God's ministry of reconciliation. Why is it that you often hear Christians complaining that Christianity is boring? It's because we're made to be part of this adventure, but all we see are the constraints in the faith. We then, therefore, are either pretty bitter and upset because we're not joining in on all the fun we think we could be having, or we live lives that look no different than anyone else (or worse). There becomes nothing remarkable about us and nothing we do distinguishes us. Our hearts are left unchanged.
How do we get the power to change? I think the answer is found as we approach the Advent. We think about who Jesus is, what He came to do, and how He did it. In backwards order: Jesus came as a baby in weakness to offer to mankind the message of reconciliation and gave us a way out of all the idols we make up (family, money, relationships, social status, etc.). He did this so that He becomes Lord of our lives so that we lose the (many) lords of our own.
To everyone reading this, I urge you to take time out to contemplate about your life this past year. Who was it about?