I
t is the day after Christmas. All those things under the tree that seemed new just 24 hours ago are looking less so. Soon all those decorations around the house will need to be taken down. All the stuff put away and life going back to normal. Maybe even a little dull. Soon the kids will be bored with their toys and other things they got for Christmas. It will all lose the luster of being new.
The day after Christmas reminds me of my own faith walk. Often what seems new each day gets a little dull. It is so easy for me to forget the newness of the gospel. The beauty of its work in my life. It is so easy to look at our faith and miss the point. When we focus on how we feel or look at something it can so easily dull in our minds.
So what can we do. How do we make it seem new every day? Well the answers aren’t simple. They don’t have an easy answer. We don’t have some simple way to make everything seem new. The reality is our emotions have little to do with the faith we trust in. With the God we believe came near to us. Time can sometimes make us lose focus on this. We can get caught up in the emotion of this moment. Yet God has promised he is near. In our baptism he came and claimed us as His own. In the Lord supper we experience the Grace of God in the Body and blood. In Worship we hear about the one who shed his blood for us. This is what helps us be new every day.
So today as you begin looking at the rest of the year. The decorations and presents look a little dull remember the one who was the reason you celebrated. Remember the God of the universe coming down for us. Remember the work of Christ to be near so that he could die for you and me. It is so simple; it isn’t a new story to hear or a new gift. It is the gift we received long ago, the gift that changes everything for you and me. The Gift of the Son of God coming to be with us, to die for us, and to rise again.
When I was a kid I remember all sorts of catalogs of toys especially this time of year. We would often get the big toys r us book around Christmas and circle all the things we wanted to get. We were so excited when it came. We probably circled 200 items in the whole catalog. It probably would have been easier if we had just crossed off the things we didn’t want.
So here is the thing. I am not a perfect parent. In fact I probably do more wrong than I do right. I fail to have patience. I fail to look up from my computer screen. I fail to say the right things at the right times. I miss the mark on so many occasions. In fact today I was talking with another Dad and we both commented on how this parenting thing doesn’t have a manual to follow more of a play book. You run certain plays and sometimes it works and more than often it fails. My goal isn’t to be a perfect parent. In fact I would say may goal has nothing to do with even being a good parent.
youthguysteve 