E-votional - Ah-Ha!
January 5-11, 2004

Verse:

“On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

Matthew 2:11 (NRSV)

Thought:

   He was shaking his crib.  It is his way of announcing to the world, the house, he is awake.  So, I walk in from the kitchen, slowly opening the door, allowing the squeaking of the hinge to add to the excitement of a new morning, to find the wide-eyed smile of my son.  It is a smile which tells a story of excitement and thrill, not at the arrival of the idea of daddy, but at the arrival OF daddy.  He is mine and I am his.  A moment of epiphany, a moment of ah-ha!

   Hear the Good News, We have come to the point of our life where we are introduced to Christ.  In fact, the idea of Christ is shared with us countless times each day.  Through friends, co-workers and even the folks on the road, driving to work.  These are the external experiences of God's Grace and love in our heart.  The truth is we are bombarded with these experiences.  So the question is, where is the ah-ha?  To my way of thinking, it is where the external experience of Christ meets the internal experience of Christ.  It is the point in which we are changed and there is no going back.  It is the point where we "get it".  The epiphany for Christians is when we "get" that Christ has come for me, yes, even me.  It is the next step on our journey.  This journey, I might add, is when we become the friend, the family and the driver on the road who offer Christ to the Christ-less.  Our role in the journey is to be the external experience of Christ in this world.  We accept the Sojourn nature of being a Christian, a Disciple, a world-changer and kingdom-builder!

Prayer: 

   Gracious God, You are awesome.  You love me, care for me straighten me out and lift me.  And even though I struggle, I do understand what you mean to me even better today, though I know I do not understand fully.  Enable be to embrace my experiences of Christ, that I may be shaped into His image.  Help me to share this experience and faith with others that one more might know you. Finally, I thank You for all You have done in my life and all You will continue to do, for I come to You through Jesus Christ, my Lord, my Savior! Amen.

Grace & Peace

David Banks
Jewett United Methodist Church
PO Box 254
Jewett, TX 75846
(903) 626-4003

 

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