Christmas is a time to remember the depth of God’s love for us. Everything our Father does is for our benefit, even the fact that He will not interfere when we misuse our agency. He has pledged to give us freedom to choose but He is always waiting to help when we want to put things right or when we need extra strength to sustain us through the results of others’ wrong choices. He loves us enough to let us leave our heavenly home with Him to learn to become more like Him (Matthew 5:48) and has designed this amazing wonderful world for us to live upon and then ordained and delegated it’s creation and management to His Firstborn Son, His Only Begotten Son, Jesus The Christ. And what detail it contains!
Jesus said He is the Breath of Life and the Earth is designed to give us that – oxygen, produced by algae and every other plant that grows, to produce the atmosphere that makes earth-life possible. I love trees and I think they are the perfect illustration of the plan our Savior and our Father have for us.
They want us to be strong and stand tall, to withstand the storms of life and they provide the means for that, designing every tree with the very structure it needs, be it palm or oak, every person with the inner strengths to conquer our individual tests and learning experiences here on Earth.
Trees epitomise service. They provide sustenance and shade for whoever will partake of it, be you ant or beetle, animal or person, rich or poor, they don’t discriminate. All are welcome to make their home in, under or with timber cut from a tree. Without fanfare, they quietly go about cleaning our atmosphere, sequestering carbon to keep us safe.
They produce flowers to gladden our hearts, fruit to feed us. Their whole annual cycle is a parable to teach us that, whatever the season, we can grow our talents, serve others, survive the hardest times and hope for Spring – new growth, new life from that which seemed dead.
This is the message of Christmas for us. Our Saviour created the world for us and took upon Himself the responsibility to provide us a way home. To do that He lead those who would listen through prophets from Adam through Abraham to Malachi, telling them to teach us His Plan – follow the instructions, love one another, follow His example of ordinances to signify covenants with Heavenly Father, turn our lives around when we make mistakes, come unto Him.
And then He came! A tiny babe born in humble circumstances, He came to live His life as an example for us to follow. He came not only to be born and gain a mortal body, but to suffer and die. He knew He would be rejected by the very people He had striven to teach. He knew the humiliation He would suffer at their hands. He knew what Gethsemane would be like and that it would be followed by abuse and a torturous death on the cross. But still He came because He loves us.
If you don’t know Jesus Christ make it a New Year’s resolution to find Him. You can find help here.
Happy New Year and a very happy Christmas!
Wendy J Allen Art 