Renew!

"The Sceptre (of royal authority) shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the lawgiver (the ruler's staff) from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes,
And to Him shall the gathering, the tribute and obedience of the people be". Genesis 49:10.

A couple of things have really struck me this Christmas.
The first is that Gabriel comforted Mary's distress at his visit by speaking about the Lord's promise to establish a reign over the house of Jacob that will never cease (Luke 1:33), hence the promise above, and that God prepares the way for this in bringing about the same manner of miracle He had used to bring about the very birth of that house thousands of years before.

Mary is overshadowed by God to bring Shiloh to the world, but notice what accompanies this - a relative who was incapable of child bearing is made fruitful and will give birth to a boy who will bear witness to Mary's son (Luke 1:12-18). The man who receives word of this particular miracle is literally dumbfounded, because, like us, he cannot wrap his thinking around what is taking place.

All of this reverberates with the events that occurred in the life of Abraham and Sarah - how God used an identical barrenness to bring life from death and raise up a family that would become the forbears of offspring as many as the stars in the sky.

We tend to look at this time of year just like the man who was made mute whilst going about his regular duties - just another week to get through, but in history, in prophecy, in the most real of human experience, we find something extraordinary unfolding...

and what about in us?

Can we allow something this astonishing to break into our darkness, our chaos, our futility?

Find somewhere this week that can help you see a little more of this wonder.

Happy Christmas!