Where Are You Headed

I consider myself a bit of an expert in airport repartee. It typically consists of one question: “Where are you headed?” We are all headed somewhere. Each day brings us closer to a final breath, a final heartbeat, a final sigh. No one is getting younger. Shouldn’t our destination be an obsession?

The Bible makes almost five hundred references to heaven. The New Testament mentions the return of Jesus more than three hundred times—one out of every thirty verses! Twenty-three of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament describe Jesus’ second coming, and on some fifty occasions we are told to be ready. If quantity equates to priority, then life after this life is a crucial issue to God.

Devotion by Max Lucado | The Almighty Jehovah | https://thealmightyJehovah.com

Out of the Mess

In the mystery of Christmas, we find its majesty. The mystery of how God became flesh, why he chose to come, and how much he must love his people. Christmas is best pondered, not with logic, but with imagination.

The first Christmas was messy. Messy with crowded inns, traveling families, and barnyard animals sniffing at baby Jesus. Messy with questions: How did Mary become pregnant? What is Joseph supposed to tell his friends? Why is Herod hell-bent on killing babies? The first Christmas was messy. No midwife for Mary, no bed for Jesus, no explanation to give the scruffy shepherds.

Is this one messy for you? Christmas can be messy. But just as with Bethlehem, good came out of the mess. May good come out of yours.

Look for God

With the passing of years, Henry’s life had changed. His children were grown. The neighborhood was different. He was unhappy. He asked his minister if he was unhappy for some sin he’d committed. “Yes,” the wise pastor replied. “The sin of ignorance. One of your neighbors is the Messiah in disguise, and you have not seen him.”

With time, Henry saw things in people he’d never seen. When others spoke he listened. After all, he might be listening to the Messiah. The bounce returned to his step. His eyes took on a friendly sparkle. He said, “All I know is that things changed when I started looking for God.”

Now, that’s curious. The old man saw Jesus because he didn’t know what he looked like. The people in Jesus’ day missed him because they thought they did. How are things looking in your neighborhood?

Where Are You Headed