New Ideas for Christmas – 1

For the next couple of weeks, I will be doing a series. It’s news that will take a few blogs to discuss, until Christmas. I was tempted to re-post an advent series this year, since last week was so busy. If you would like some news about advent, go here for my Advent week 1 post. My passage this week is from Isaiah, a foretelling about the coming of Christ. It provides an optimistic view of what lies ahead.

¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19

Forget about it!

(…the sound a spring makes!) Isaiah gives us a visual to think about next. It tells us a lot; “‘It  SPRINGS UP. Don’t you see it?” Whether we think of a coiled metal spring or a fountain of water which refers to something that springs up, it has a life of its own. There is potential, providing significance that cannot be ignored. The coming of Jesus Christ as a baby is like that. His coming is significant as he provides the potential for change in the world.

A way in the wilderness

It is yet another visual. There is a guide moving ahead and with me, and making a way for me – and all believers, as we go.

Streams in the wilderness

The last part of this passage has news about how we are sustained while we are on our wilderness journey.  Isaiah has to speak in metaphorical terms, to cover all the possible situations. A stream of water in the wilderness gives us hydration and reinvigorates us so that we can continue the journey. I recall a time when I was hospitalized and just  getting started with dialysis. For a period of 2 days I was not permitted to drink any water (my only hydration was through an IV). The IV may help the body, but I was in torment because my mouth was so dry.  Imagine a similar sensation in the wilderness, where we are so parched and feeling so tormented. It is difficult to go on — even with signposts to let us know what direction to go.

God makes a way, and he provides the stream to sustain us as we move through the wilderness. The stream is the Holy Spirit. He sustains and moves, guides and directs.  Not as a force, but as a living person who provides counsel, encouragement, and direction.

 

Great News for Christmas

The best news we can realize at Christmas is a fresh perspective on who Christ is, and the fact that a foretelling period of hundreds of years preceded his coming. God provided a solution and a way to help us get through an endless, wandering  struggle in life.