Weekend Words

 From Amish Peace...

Prince of Peace

A child is born to us... And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6

These days there is more than enough Christmas cheer to go around.  There are holiday parties, cookie exchanges, and children's programs.  There are gifts to buy, and maybe cards to mail and homes to decorate as bright and  beautiful as the magazine covers on the rack at the grocery store.  Yet there is little peace.  And on some busy, frantic holiday days I'm certain that I have forgotten that the whole thing is supposed to be about the Prince of Peace.

That title holds a lot of meaning.

Prince: "Jesus came and told his disciples, 'I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth' " (Matthew 28:18).  We've given Jesus authority over our souls and our homes, but have we given Him authority over our Christmas celebrations?

Peace: "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!" (Isaiah 26:3).  When our minds are filled with all the tasks of Christmas, peace comes when we focus on the Prince of Christmas.

In the Amish home, preparations for Christmas start a few days (not a few months) before the holiday.  If gifts are given, they are simple gifts for the children.  There is often an Amish school Christmas program that focuses on Christ.  In fact, in a book for Amish school teachers a new verse to the familiar carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem" was added:

O little Inn of Bethlehem how like we are to you;

Our lives are crowded to the brim with this and that to do.

We're not unfriendly to the King, we mean well without doubt;

We have no hostile feelings, we merely crowd Him out.

It seems even the youngest children know what Prince needs to reign in their Christmas!  Can we make an effort to remember the same?

From A Year's Journey with God...

Bright Morning Star

I, Jesus... I am the bright morning star. - Revelation 22:16 NLT

"Oooh! It's so dark!"  I gasped.  I was eight years old and it was 5 o'clock in the morning.  My father was scraping frost from his car.

"See if you can find the Morning Star,' he suggested.  I had never been up early enough to see it before and was amazed by its brightness.  As we set off on a long drive to deliver presents to distant friends my father explained, 'Before clocks were invented sailors, watchmen and farmers always knew it was nearly dawn when the Morning Star appeared, so they called it "Star of Hope".'

The message about joy, peace and goodwill that the angels gave to the shepherds seems rather strange!  Ever since then there has been very little joy or peace - you only have to watch the news to know how terrible life on Earth can be - at least for some people.

Christmas seems to underline how unfair things are!  Some children have masses of presents, others have none; we 'pig out' on Christmas Day while others die of starvation; some people are surrounded by loving families while others sit alone, forgotten or unwanted.  God is often accused of being unfair but Jesus never promised us anything but trouble in this life (John 16:33), although he did promise to make everything fair in the next!  Because of the birth (and death) of Jesus we can confidently look forward to an eternity of nothing but joy and peace.  However, the angels actually promised peace and goodwill on Earth (Luke 2:14 KJV).  Although our lives down here may be outwardly difficult, we can still experience a foretaste of heaven in our hearts.

Star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright... Guide us to Thy perfect light. - John Henry Hopkins (1857)