I look forward to Christmas every year. It is a time of celebration: music, parties, gifts, great food and time with family and friends. The anticipation of Christmas morning never grows old. Watching the excitement in my own kids as they open their presents brings great joy. Joy was the theme of the first Christmas. The angels told the shepherds to fear not, for they brought “good news of great joy for all people.”
But we live in a broken world. We look around us and we see wars, social unrest, and personal tragedy. How can we have joy when we are surrounded by so much pain?
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A number of years ago I was talking to a ministry leader about serving. He was expressing his frustration about how some Christians do nothing with their faith. He stated, “They rust out. I don’t want to rust out, I want to burn out.” That sounded so noble at first. Going out in a blaze of glory while serving God and others. But then I thought, both these ways of living share something in common – they are both “out.” Is that what God wants for us?
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