I'm a little late with this one, but I still think its a good thought so here it comes, late and all...
Here we are in the gap between two celebrations: Our celebration of Christ’s Birth and start
of a new ‘Calendar Year’. Most of us are
hoping to finally close the gap between the start and end of the ham or turkey,
and hoping the gap between the start and the end of the pie will hold out a
just a couple more days. Most of us are
in the gap between finishing the business of 2015 and starting the business of
2016. Often times we have a gap in our
daily routines that is replaced by different routine: Meet the family here, get this clean before
the folks come tomorrow, drop of the kids for a party there, go, run,
smile. But the gap doesn’t last forever. In a few days the gap will close and will be
behind us. We all get to start a New
Year.
But also during the gap we also usually get a few rare
moments to reflection and think back over the year, and often we don’t like
everything we see. There are always good
things and memories we’ll treasure forever, but often time we see other
gaps.
- We see the gap in the time we should have spent with our family instead of at work.
- We see the gap in our patience we’ve shown with our children or parents.
- We see the gap in our character where we chose not to do what we know was right or judged someone wrongly.
- We see the gap in the time we know we need to be spending in prayer.
- We the gap between the times we could have shown God’s love and when we just walked away.
We see the gap between who we have chosen to be and who God
intended us to be, and this gap won’t go away in few days on its own. Oh, I can work on my patience and reallocate
my time but nothing I can do will ever close the gap between who I am and who
God intended for me to be. That gap is
there because of sin. It’s ugly, it’s
shameful, it’s in my life and it’s in yours.
That sin also creates a gap between God and ourselves. Because of that sin, we live in the gap.
Paul expressed it well in the 7th chapter of
Romans:
18For I have the desire to do what is
good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I
want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if
I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin
living in me that does it. …
24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body
of death? (NIV)
During this season we should take the time to celebrate the answer to Paul’s and our question.
1 Pet 3: 18For Christ died for sins once for all,
the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in
the body but made alive by the Spirit, (NIV)
Romans 5:6You see,
at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the
ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone
die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to
die. 8But God demonstrates his own
love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.(NIV)
God loves us so much that he sent His Son to die to close
the gap created by sin. The same love
that led to the Baby in the Manger we celebrate at Christmas, drove the Man to
the cross to purchase the new beginning we all crave all New Years. Christ love
has filled in the gap.
Happy New Year to All!
Col. 1:9-12
Mark
