Pastor’s Pen: The routine of life

If your house is like mine, then it’s likely that you are still clearing up from the celebrations of the past two weeks.

The Christmas tree and lights might now be packed away for another year, but each day I’m still finding the odd bit of tinsel down the back of the sofa, or some wrapping paper that was ripped off with great fury on Christmas morning.

And what about the presents? Are you making good use of them, or have you already been back to the shops to swap them for something more appropriate?

Life can seem very bare now that we move into ordinary everyday life, with everything packed away for another year, kids back to school, and society back into the nine-to-five routine. And yet this is so not the point of what we have just celebrated over the Christmas period. The Christian faith is not just about a baby at Christmas. The very essence of what we believe is that God desires to be with us, in relationship with his children, every day, because he loves everyone of us.

The hope therefore is that the celebration we experience at Christmas continues every day as we realise that through the ordinariness and routine of life, Jesus, our Immanuel, our God with us, walks with us, even when the rest of the world has packed the tinsel away until next December.

Jesus never promised that life would be easy, but he did offer to be with us through all the ups and downs. Therefore as the gloss of festive celebrations becomes faint, it is my prayer that you take hold of the promise that Jesus gave when he said: “I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance” (John 10:10).

Jesus can give a whole new meaning to living because he provides full satisfaction and perfect guidance.