At this time of year, everything is bigger.

If you’re happy and you love your family, then the wonder of family life is twice, ten, twenty times better. If you’re family life is difficult, it’s twice, ten, twenty times more difficult.

If you are with the one you love, then love is more wondrous.

If you’ve lost the one you love, the grief if more painful.

Whatever our life is like, Christmas puts tinsel and a set of flashing lights around it – whether we want it to or not.

Everything is bigger at Christmas.

On  that first Christmas, God did the opposite. He took the immense expanse of his glory and, as the old hymn says, ‘contracted it to a span.’ The width, breath and depth of heaven’s King, made small enough to fit into the arms of a young mother. From the throne room of heaven, to the smelly mess of an animal feeding trough. Not a bauble in sight.

I heard someone say that maybe the reason why some who don’t normally come to church do come to Carol Services, is because the baby in the manger is no challenge.
The little Lord Jesus, asleep in the hay…

I’m all for tinsel and lights, cards and pressies –  I love it all.  But if everything is bigger at Christmas, then shouldn’t our faith be bigger too? We need to increase our worship, our prayer, our giving (!), our view of God.

We need to magnify him.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
    and let us exalt his name together!
Psalm 34:3

Have a fab Christmas; I pray God’s blessing on you lovely readers for 2018. Thanks for your encouragement in 2017. May our view of God be bigger than ever next year.

A x

photo credit: marcoverch Geburt Christi, ein handgefertigtes Puppen-Set via photopin (license)