“In a Changing World, A Changeless Promise”
As another year passes and a new year dawns, we are reminded again of the passage of time and the constancy of change. Yet, the changeless promise of God’s Gift at Christmas can transform us to face the New Year.
This is the age of the half-read page, the quick hash, the mad dash, the bright night with nerves tight, the airplane hop and the brief stop. It’s the age of the lamp tan in a short span, the brain strain and the heart pain, the cat naps until the spring snaps, and the fun’s done.
All the change around us only highlights our own weakness and inability to control our own little worlds. We have tried to play God and have been found lacking. The chaos in the cosmos only reflects the chaos in our own lives as a result of violating the first Commandment: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3 KJV).
We secretly hate what we have become:
- Some wear a narcissistic, self-centered mask and try to be “acceptable” to others by becoming who we wish we were;
- Some idolize our relationships with “significant others” seeking to become “complete” as we emotionally and spiritually enmesh our lives with those we think possess the qualities we lack;
- Some seek control in our chaos through religious perfectionism under the “tyranny of the ought.”
Our anxiety and/or legalism prohibit us from ever feeling fully accepted by God.
Into such a changing, chaotic world comes the changeless Promise of the greatest Change Agent ever! “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11 ESV).
- He is the WORD that spoke the universe into existence and order out of chaos;
- He is the Word that speaks freedom to the captives and sight to the blind;
- He is the Good Shepherd who finds the lost and brings them home;
- He is the conqueror who takes on death and gives life;
- He turns sorrow into joy and anxiety into peace;
- He crushes the proud and lifts up the humble;
- He gives grace and guidance to the guilty and groping; and sinners are made saints;
- In Him, the weak are made strong, the broken are bound up, and the hopeless discover hope;
- He is the Changeless ONE who has come to change everything and make everything NEW!
Prayer
Holy Spirit, in this New Year, please keep my eyes fixed on my changeless Savior, Jesus; and change my heart to trust in Him more fully in this changing world. In Jesus, Amen.
