We think of spring as a time of rebirth. However, let’s reminisce. It’s December 26th, and Christmas is over for another year. We’ve packed baby Jesus back into his storage box, swept the fallen pine needles into the dust pan, and readied ourselves to begin payments on all the presents we gifted to ourselves.
Yet, Christmas isn’t truly over. No matter the time of year, Christmas is never over. The Christmas story is about refuge and rebirth. It’s about a new spring, about seeing new life blossom where before there was little more than bare branches and winter-burnt grass.
Luke 2:11 gives us the first moments of Jesus’ life on earth:
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
This was not a birth. It was a rebirth. Jesus was alive before he became that baby in a manger. Just as in springtime, the trees that blossom into green are never dead. The snow brushes bare branches, and the leaves are long gone, but life is there. Always life is there; we just can’t see it with our natural eyes.
The Christmas story reveals the desperation of a family with no place to spend the night. It seems there was no warmth to be had, no springtime to look forward to, and certainly no one to welcome them to a filling meal. They were turned away at every doorway until they found refuge in a stable.
Then a child was born to warm their hearts and lives into renewed expectation. That’s the coming of Jesus, an offering of hope in a time of desperation, an opportunity for renewal for the human race.
The story continues today. Each spring we are reminded that life can come out of death. Winter’s barrenness turns to spring’s lushness. The human condition is changed by the renewing power of Jesus born into each sinner’s weary heart at the moment of salvation.
He becomes our refuge all over again, his love reborn into each person’s heart just as it was in that manger years ago.
Jesus is our refuge reborn. He didn’t come on Christmas, only to leave us shivering for the rest of the year in the winter of defeat. He brings us a new spring every day, and we blossom into new creatures at the touch of his hand. In him, we know the joy of life in the Spirit and the anticipation of spending all eternity in the presence of our mighty King.
We might box up Christmas, but Jesus remains out and on display in the way we treat our fellow man throughout the year.
Copyright © 2016 MyChurchNotes.net
Originally Published 4-15-16 in Hope