Before Christmas Day Dawns...

...it is worthwhile to pause...reflect...remember why we're doing what we're doing.  The following words from Michael Card's book The Promise have helped me to do that this year.

First, he quotes Isaiah 9:6:

"And He will be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Eternal Father,

Prince of Peace."

Then he writes this:

All we could ever imagine, could ever hope for, He is.

He is the wise royal Counselor who fills us with wonder, who holds the tangled storylines of history and will one day bring true understanding between all individuals and nations.

He is the God of Might, whose power can accomplish any and every task His holiness demands.

His power we need not fear for He is also the Father Eternal who is tenderness itself and who is ever motivated by His everlasting love for His children.

Finally, He is Prince of Peace whose first coming has already transformed society but whose second coming will forever establish justice and righteousness.

All this, and infinitely more, alive in an impoverished baby in a barn.

That is what Christmas means -- to find in a place where you would least expect to find anything you want, everything you could ever want.

O Lord, indeed you have given us a Son--your Son!  You have kept the promise you made through your servant Isaiah.  A promise you made to us.  Lord God, we believe all the promises that are yet to be fulfilled through your Son.  We long for the government of all the universe to rest, at last, upon His shoulders.  We are weary, hungry for His everlasting peace to come in fullness.   By your zeal, Father, and through your great love, accomplish all you have spoken.

To that, I say a resounding, "AMEN!"

And to you, kind friends, I say, "Merry, merry Christmas!!!"  :)