The joy of Christmas has already filled the Overstreet headquarters, as Anne and I read the Christmas story\u2026 Luke, Chapters 1 and 2\u2026 last night. And, once again, it was a whole new experience.<\/p>\n
This time I was especially impressed by the story of Zechariah, the the father of John the Baptist, who was a man of great insight. While he had to take a rather lengthy \u201ctime out\u201d to ponder what God can do, he did \u2014 upon comprehending the enormity of what was about to happen \u2014 discern that the coming of Jesus was not going to be the coming of a Lord who would take the world by military force, or a Lord who would make life easier, but a Savior who would be victorious by saving us from our sins. Similarly, Simeon, the priest who blessed Jesus, foresaw that Jesus would bring this salvation also to the Gentiles. That is some profound understanding, perspectives that many of Jesus\u2019 own followers had difficulty perceiving.<\/p>\n
In the coming year, I want to know my Lord better. I cannot comprehend him, but by believing in him, all things around me become illuminated. I want to avoid reducing him to the kind of Savior I think I want, but rather behold the kind of Savior that he is\u2026 because his will is so much grander than anything I have yet imagined. Zechariah and Simeon didn\u2019t rejoice just because Jesus was coming to bless them<\/em>\u2026 but because they knew he would bless others as well.<\/p>\n Movies, music, literature, art\u2026 all of these things move me because they reflect fragments of his beauty, his design for creation, his will. Pray that I will not be distracted or seduced by the allure of these things, but that they will continue to be a means to an end, pathways that I travel to be nearer to him rather than a destination in and of themselves.<\/p>\n I pray that you too will not be distracted by the \u201cstuff\u201d of Christmas, but that you will remember and cherish the truth\u2026 that God has done far more to express his love for us than we could ever do for him. And when the \u201cgrey rain curtain\u201d of this world is drawn back, we will see him as he is\u2026 if we\u2019re watchful.<\/p>\n Remember the words of Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien, which he included in a letter to his son Michael in 1962: \u201cWell here comes Christmas! That astonishing thing that no \u2018commercialism\u2019 can in fact defile\u2014unless you let it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The joy of Christmas has already filled the Overstreet headquarters, as Anne and I read the Christmas story\u2026 Luke, Chapters 1 and 2\u2026 last night. And, once again, it was a whole new experience. This time I was especially impressed by the story of Zechariah, the the father of John the Baptist, who was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1051,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[62],"class_list":["post-13302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-christmas"],"yoast_head":"\n