Another Christmas has come and gone. Another Christmas where I didn’t wake up to a brand new car with a huge red bow sitting in my driveway. What a complete letdown.
“What do we do now?” Does anyone else ever feel this way after Christmas? All the presents have been unwrapped and toys already forgotten about so now what is there to look forward to?
I imagine this is a similar feeling the Israelites had after Jesus was born. All the hype and excitement surrounding his birth and then back to regular life.
How many of them do you think just stared at baby Jesus waiting for him to do some amazing miracle and all they got were dirty diapers (okay I have no idea if they had diapers back then or how that worked).
Just like the Israelites we now go back to our regular routines and schedules. No more holiday cheer just the dreary days of winter ahead. The excitement of Christmas is over.
Or is it?
Christmas reminds us of the Hope that we have thanks to Jesus coming to this world as a babe. The only reason there is hope because of what comes next, Easter.
On that dark day some 2000 years ago, Jesus revealed the greatest gift the world has ever seen by giving his life as a sacrifice for all on the cross.
Santa may have forgotten my hippopotamus but Jesus gave me something so much better, HOPE.