Merry Christmas! I’m visiting my in-laws right now. I am blessed with a great family–wife, kids, parents, siblings, and wife’s family. I know not everyone has such a loving family, or has had a falling out. I hope and pray for reconciliation. Know that we are all reconciled in Christ, and one day we will all know His peace. Meanwhile, we just catch glimpses of His Kingdom.
Everyone has two families. There’s the one that they’re born into, and then there’s the one that they choose. By that I mean, in my case, my wife and kids; my dear friends like Sharon, Jenny, Missy, and Mary; and my church. Both families are so important! Not everyone can be born into a kind, loving, welcoming family, but everyone can choose a family that builds them up.
In Luke 12, Jesus tells a parable warning against an abundance of possessions, and that we should not worry about the future. We are promised abundant life, not a life of abundance. What is meant by abundant life? It’s people, it’s relationships, it’s love and belonging, it’s hope for the future. As we remember Jesus’s birth in a humble place, we realize that he and his parents had very little in the way of material comforts, yet they were rich beyond measure in God’s love.
May God bless you likewise!