Wonder!

 

After hearing part of the Christmas song, which has in it the line, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year”, my thoughts were around the word, ‘ wonderful’ or, if you break it down, it is wonder-ful, full of wonder.

The picture above shows two girls looking up at the Christmas tree with its lights, tinsel and baubles and can’t you just see the wonder in their eyes and faces. They have excitement, expectancy, anticipation and joy, absolutely oozing out of them. They are absorbing the atmosphere of Christmas and it is shining from their faces. Maybe they are thinking of brothers, sisters, mum and dad all coming together, presents under the tree, a traditional Christmas lunch with crackers, paper hats and the usual “jokes”. Then there decorations and maybe even the comfort of a crackling open fire, offering a warmth not only to the room, but to the hearts of those around it.

I am fully aware that, for some people, Christmas will be a struggle, there is homelessness, loneliness, painful loss and spaces at the table where loved ones would have sat. But above all there is the message of Christmas and I think that sometimes we have lost that sense of wonder. You see, it’s not only for the children to know and feel the wonder of Christmas, but for all of us. As we get older we tend to get a bit used to Christmas, after all it comes round every year and we just accept it and get stuck in to the usual card writing, present giving and general preparations. Have we lost that real sense of wonder?

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

This surely is the wonder of Christmas, that the Almighty, Creator, All Knowing, All Loving God gave His Son to our world. God gave Jesus, with so much love for us, knowing of the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus would make on the Cross.

That’s the wonder-ful message of Christmas. God wants you and me to dwell with Him forever in a place called HOME.