First Things
I love preliminary things:
the tuning of flutes and strings,
the little scrolls musicians play,
the very keys to feel their way,
the hum - the hush in which it dies,
but most of all - to see the curtain rise.
These words by Halford Luccock remind me of the anticipation and hope that exists at the turning of every new year. As the curtain rises on another fresh new year, I want to encourage us all to reflect upon the importance of “first things.”
After all, it is the opening scene of a drama that “sets the stage” - the focus and direction of all that comes after it. It is the dive off the “starting block” that wins or loses many heats for a swimmer. The first things in our lives, the things that we choose as first priority on our “must do” list, also sets the stage for all that is to come afterwards in the days ahead of 2025.
Christmas teaches us the importance of arranging the “first things” of our life. At the birth of Jesus, people of all types showed up to place him first in their lives. People in poverty came to the stable as did people who were rich. Jews and Gentiles who lived strictly apart from one another, met together at the stable. People called “wise,” with lots of formal education and people whose learning came from the fields and pastures they tended; all of these recognized Jesus as the “first thing” in their life.
Despite differences of race, religion, nationality and language, every person who came to the manger that first Christmas responded in this same way: they dropped what they were doing and came to him, they laid aside their many allegiances and worshiped him alone, they brought him the best of what they owned as gifts to him, and then they left the stable “by another way” because their path through this world had been forever changed by him. Imagine the possibilities for our world if these were the “first things” of us all as we begin this new year.
The year 2025 is the start of something new and God stands ready to begin a new thing within each of our lives. I eagerly await the curtain to rise on this new year and I trust that God will show us the power and the hope of “this thing which has come to pass.”
Pastor Howard
