Listen to the news these days and you’ll hear a common
theme: Americans are afraid. We’re
afraid another Paris or San Bernardino terror attack is coming to a
neighborhood near us. So Christmas comes
at a good time this year. One of the
messages repeated over and over in the Christmas narratives is this: “Don’t be
afraid.” The angel said this to Mary,
Joseph, and the shepherds: “Don’t be afraid.”
I’m pretty sure the angel is saying the same thing to us in this season:
“Don’t be afraid. That baby born to you
in Bethlehem is named God-with-us.”
Christmas reminds us that God has His hands on the wheel of
history. Nothing happens that catches
God by surprise. Nothing happens that
God can’t redeem. And nothing happens to
God’s people that can hurt us forever.
The coming of Jesus brought heaven to earth. And “if we die before we wake” Jesus will
take us from earth to heaven. English
poet John Donne said it best: “Fear God or fear everything else.” So here’s the sixth of The Twelve Thoughts
of Christmas—don’t be afraid; God is with us and always will be.
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