The Thirteenth Day of Christmas
… but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. (I Peter 3:15 ESV)
Always
A danger in celebrating the amazing incarnation so enthusiastically is that we might fall into the trap of not constantly rejoicing in Immanuel.
Immanuel does not cease on December 26, January 6, or ever.
God is with us. And we need God with us. And we get to celebrate it constantly.
Our problems are always in our minds. Our struggles are always in our hands. Our pains are always in our eyes. Our sinfulness is always in our hearts.
And so, we need that God/man present in our lives all of the time.
Let us be more like Ebenezer Scrooge. After his transformation, he always celebrated the love, joy, and peace of Christmas. So much so, that his friends and neighbors were annoyed by him.
But maybe (and I admit I MIGHT be reading more into Dickens’ words than Dickens intended!) Scrooge knew that he needed the gospel every day. And so did all of London.
So, he never stopped acting like it was Christmas.
When Peter writes that we should honor Christ, as Lord, in our hearts, he is talking about the incarnation and the incarnation’s effect and power.
Every day, circumstances, our thoughts, and the words of others might attack the power of the gospel. But Christ’s gospel always wins. We do not always notice it… but the gospel wins!
We can not survive in this world, but Christ enables us, because of the incarnation, because of Immanuel, because of His love, joy, and peace.