Today is Christmas Eve, and we are busily cramming for Christmas. A few things happening in our personal life required us to put off some of the planning we typically do much earlier, and from what I am seeing around me, we are not alone. Just as the birth of Jesus was for Mary, Christmas is coming, ready or not.
We all like to have our lives in order, especially before major events, yet we are all too familiar with the reality that it usually doesn’t work that way. Often life refuses to cooperate with our agendas, and even when we think we are prepared, we are not as ready as we thought we were. I regularly hear people talking about being ready for marriage or for starting a family, and my first thought is, “Who is ever fully ready for what those decisions mean?”
We prepare and plan, as well we should, but part of life involves jumping in and working it out as we go. Jesus, speaking in Luke 14:28 says, “If one of you wanted to build a tower, wouldn’t you first sit down and calculate the cost, to determine whether you have enough money to complete it?” (CEB) His point is clear, before you take an important step in life, physically or spiritually, you should do all that you can to be sure you are ready. But what about the times where you can’t prepare; when there is nothing more you can do to be ready? What about those occasions where there is no time to prepare? That is where you put your trust in God and take a leap of faith.
Tonight, we will celebrate the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem; a journey of physical and spiritual distance. These two young people responded to the call of God far before they were prepared, but God was able to make them ready. They said, “Yes,” and dove the deep end of a pool with no way to see the bottom. There was simply no way for them to fully envision where their decision to agree with God would take them. They could only put their faith in the One who called them.
When God calls us, inviting us to join in exciting, redemptive work of Jesus, we are not prepared, but God will prepare and equip those who respond to the call. We will not know all that is before us on the journey, but we will know the One who goes before us to lead the way, behind us to protect us, and with us to enjoy the path together.
God doesn’t need what we have, God wants to have us. Please notice the difference. God doesn’t need our things, our skills, and our talents, for they are gifts of God to us. God desires our heart, our communion, our “Yes.” From there, all things are possible, and the joy for the journey is already ours because Joy is our companion and strength.
Wherever you are on your own journey to Bethlehem today, remember that God is bringing you to your Christmas Day. Ready or not, it is coming, and when it does there will be all the reason in the world to rejoice!
Happy Christmas Eve!
