My first Christmas as a married man is in it’s fleeting moments. I am not distressed however, since it was an exceptional day. Jen and I awoke early to have our own personal time together exchanging gifts before heading to my parents to spend the afternoon and evening with my siblings and their kids. I really enjoyed every minute of it. Selfishly, the gifts I recieved were great (not a single piece of clothes!), but that’s not what made the day so good. I just enjoyed sharing it with the people I love. Seeing the kids’ faces light up was undoubtedly priceless, but it was in those few quiet moments that I enjoyed Christmas the most.
It seems like every year Christmas brings new, and often different meaning. This year it was the “fulfillment of a Promise”. A couple weeks ago I purchased Andrew Peterson’s new album “Behold, the Lamb of God”. It’s a Christmas album, but one like no other that I’ve heard. The first few songs don’t mention much of anything about the shepards, wise men, or a manger. I didn’t quite get it at first, I mean, this is a Chrismtas album isn’t it? After I listened closer I realized that the album focuses, in part, on the promise that God gave in the Old Testament to deliver His people. While God did deliver the Israelites literally from their slavery, He also did it figuratively when He sent His Son as a fullfillment of His Promise. To us it’s easy to take that for granted…our lives are pretty easy now, even as Christians. We don’t have to worry about violent persecution, slavery, or Jewish law for that matter. God is Good…and man am I glad that I am free of the Old Testament Law and most of all– sin. God gave me the ultimate gift on this day 2000 years ago…He fullfilled His Promise…and someday He’ll fullfill another when He returns.
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