Tuesday, December 8, 2015

"New York, New York"

Passage:  Revelation 4:8  Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Almighty, who was, who is, and who is coming. ”

I had wanted to go to New York City for several years with Heather and Kara so for my sixtieth birthday-I got my wish!  The trip was everything I had hoped for and more.  It was an amazing trip filled with great food and wonderful memories.  The weather was perfect and the travel was smooth.

New York City is a fascinating place.  So many millions of people live and more work on the tiny island of Manhattan.  Every inch of space is used and coveted.  So much of our nation’s and our world’s news has a genesis in NYC.  It is not a place that ‘what happens here stays here’ but rather ‘what happens there affects the whole world’. 

As the girls and I visited the sight of the 911 Memorial, I was struck with the quiet somberness of the area still after 15 years.  That event literally shook the world and has shaken our world ever since.  Thousands visit the site each day to remember with respect the power of the event.

While the 911 event was a pivotal event in our lives, there was an event much more impactful that struck our planet thousands of years earlier.  It did not come to us because of hate and evil but because of love and goodness, mercy and compassion.  “For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior that is Christ the LORD.”  (Luke 2:11) Jesus was born in a quiet, lonely place with few visitors to greet Mary and Joseph.  The Savior of the world had been born in a busy, bustling city (Bethlehem like New York on a smaller scale) and it seemed to go unnoticed. Yet ‘what happened there could not stay there’ and now in 2015 we are still telling His story and celebrating His birth!

There will be events that continue to rock and shake our world but one thing we can be assured of- the story that began in the manger of Bethlehem will continue with a shout from the heavens.  This time His coming will not go un-noticed !


How can you make Christmas more about Jesus and less about the world?

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