Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

The goose has gotten fat

Friday, December 23, 2016

Malachi 3:1-2
Suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat ... and in a flash that goose is eaten, and Christmas has come and gone. Advent slips silently away as the Baby is born. Those muted minor songs of waiting give way to major keys. Celebration reigns, perhaps for twelve days, at least for twelve hours.

And then the inexorable, bleak midwinter rises in the morning fog to greet us, unless we get lucky and flee to Florida.

Is there enough goose on our plate to last till spring? I watch the squirrels dash toward the sunflower seeds and jimmy-cracked corn we set out for wild birds and our domesticated chickens. They need more than the few acorns they have managed to squirrel away. I think I'm in their boat.

Should I worry and store and hold on to what I've got? Doesn't life require me to do that? Old Testament prophecies that herald the birth of Jesus, bright with light and hope, are more than balanced by prophecies of doom and gloom. Isaiah, Malachi, Jeremiah all wrote much more about the awful future than the awe-filled future.

But of course we like the sweet words best, and we listen with joy to the angels singing to the shepherds. And of course, we should. Jesus came to bring light and life and joy to all of us. He came to replenish the tables of the poor with living water and the bread of life.

But more than any of his prophet predecessors, Jesus does not allow us to hoard but calls us to the manna philosophy: "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." It's when we fail to follow him in this that we get ourselves in trouble.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. There has always been trouble for us when we ignore the manna-lesson. The prophets called their fellow citizens to account and often died for their efforts. As did Jesus.

But Jesus, he came back, burning brighter than ever. The refiner's fire does not go out. It will do its work in each of us, one way or another. Thank God for his coming, oh yes, thank God.

Make your ways known to me, O Lord, and teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God, and I am not. Guide me into justice, and teach me your way to live.

Devotions Archive

The goose has gotten fat

Friday, December 23, 2016