Ok, it is not Christmas yet, but I wanted to let all those who are leaving town to visit family know that I wish them a merry Christmas. I hope you have been able to stop and reflect on the joy of knowing that Jesus loves you so much. Lent can be a time when we look at ourselves and realize we need to get in gear, but Advent and Christmas is a time to relax and reflect.

These are two “r” words that seem foreign to us, and for many, not a part of our daily experience. One of the benefits of Jesus coming to us as a child gives us the excuse to spend time with God with joyful expectation. Just contemplating Jesus as that little baby boy can bring peace to our hearts and strength in our souls. What a sigh of relief to know that Jesus chose to come to us. We do not have to figure things out by ourselves. He chose to pursue us and bring us close to Him. Jesus revealed God as Himself. He chose to reveal Himself as a little child. That is the character of who God is as He is. In all other religions, humanity goes out in search of God. Some things we get right. But in the Christian faith, He comes to us, pursues us, and reveals Himself to us.

That is how we can get to know God as He is. This is how we can have any certainty that only in the faith of Jesus Christ is there salvation. God would not lie about Himself or the salvation He offers us. Our God is not a conjuring of the mind. Nor is it a blind guessing game trying to figure it out, where we will never really know who God is or what it may be. No God, as Jesus revealed Himself, is three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the bond of Love. We are invited to participate in this same bond of Love when Jesus was born for us! This is our God (Is 25:9)

Now isn’t that something to reflect on? And isn’t that something that gives us peace that we may relax and enjoy His company with us this Christmas?