WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Think about how you spent Christmas Day. Did you feel God drawing closer to you as you celebrated the birth of Jesus?

Going backwards
Growing up on the coast I used to love to plant my feet firmly on the edge of the sea and gaze down as the incoming waves washed over them. As the water receded I had the odd sensation of going backwards. I have that kind of feeling today as I look at this passage.

Yesterday’s reading reached a crescendo of hope and promise. And where are we today? Back to God’s anger, not once but repeatedly (vs 12,17)! The picture is of God with his arm raised against his people. It doesn’t quite square with our cosy Christmas picture of the baby Jesus!

Wrong direction
But why is God so angry? It’s because the people don’t see their need of him. In their arrogance they think they can do far better without God (vs 9,10), so they place their trust in human leaders who inevitably lead them in the wrong direction. In the end everyone suffers (vs 16,17).

But beware. It is possible even for Christians to claim that God is lord of our lives, and yet to live as though we can manage perfectly well without him, thank you very much. Sometimes the new confidence that we find in God is what can also turn into independence from God.

Respond: ‘Help me, God, to learn my need of you again today.’

http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-12-26