Wednesday, December 20th

“On that day earth shall ring…”

Jesus comes as Savior of all the world. The prophets, Isaiah in particular, caught the vision of the whole of creation celebrating the Messiah’s coming: of trees clapping their hands, of mountains singing in joy, of lion and lamb side by side in peace. It is a picture of a new creation, of God restoring the order of Eden and a cosmic sigh of relief.

How can we visualize this today? We have looked on the world as a vast pile of resources for us to exploit; the world is beginning to groan from our abuses, though it shows the resilience of a work of God. Too often Christians have given up on this world, preferring to put our hope in a heaven separate from earth, with earth quarantined at a safe distance in time and space.

But Jesus – it’s this whole world to be saved, this one, where we pray “Thy will be done on earth…” To give a gift of caring for all of God’s creation – that would be a fine gift for the Messiah, wouldn’t it!

DO WE RECOGNIZE WHAT A BLESSING OUR WORLD REALLY IS?

Prayer: O God, help us hear the earth ringing with the music of joy at the coming of our Savior, and let us join that song. Amen.

Dr. John Clifford