Isaiah 9:6 (CEB)
A child is born to us, a son is given to us,
and authority will be on his shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Around this time of year, one of the things we like to do in our house is put up our Christmas tree. For me, putting up the tree has always been an important way for me to get into the Christmas spirit and Christmas season. In the past, even if no one else in my house was interested, I’d make sure our tree was up every year and decorated long before the 25th.
This year in my home though, we were itching to put up the Christmas tree as early as possible. Right at the beginning of November we were already trying to figure out how early we could put up our tree! It seems this year like Christmas can’t come early enough. I think part of the reason is because we could all use some extra Christmas this year–joy, hope, and peace.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s looking forward to Christmas. Right around the corner is the Advent season (starts this Sunday). Advent is a time in the church when we look forward to and celebrate the meaning of Christmas. We celebrate Jesus’s birth and the fact that Jesus will come again. He brings all the fruit of the Spirit into our lives (Gal. 5:22-23), and we could all use some extra fruit of the Spirit this year.
At the same time Toronto shifts into lockdown, the church shifts into the Advent season. As bad as things look in our community, we keep holding on to the fact that Jesus is still Lord. God remains Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace during the pandemic and always, and that gives us plenty of reasons to hope.