“Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now how more tenderly. “The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I’m not keeping it to Myself; I’m ready to go over it line by line with anyone who will listen.”” (Matthew 11:27 MSG)
The Father and Son share a special relationship. They are completely known and loved by one another. Pause here a moment; isn’t that the cry of your own heart? Hold, on, it gets better. Through the beauty of Christmas, the pain of Easter, and the power of Pentecost; the family of God has offered this level of love and intimacy to us. The question is, will we accept it? Will we run towards God’s gift as the shepherds did when they heard the good news?
My heart response is “YES!”
I want to know God more in 2020 than ever before. I want to walk in unbroken intimacy with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I want His commands to be a delight to my soul and His presence to be oxygen for my being. I want to live in what Eugene Peterson names the ‘unforced rhythms of grace’.
“Are you tired?”
yes.
“Are you worn out?”
so very worn through.
“Burned out on religion?”
badly burned.
“Come to Me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
(Matthew 11:28-30 MSG)
Doesn’t that sound like the kind of New Year you want to usher in? Don’t you want to spend the next decade or two or three living freely and lightly? I’m trying to picture it; my regular life reframed in unforced rhythms of grace instead of calendar items and to-do lists. I want a recovered life. I want to walk in ongoing intimacy with my Lord and Savior. Not frazzled. Not stressed out. Not burned through. Just confidently close. I want to learn to live in step with the Spirit in this next season. How about you?
Lord, we come close this Christmas. Fill us anew. Breathe Your Spirit into our tired-out limbs and recover our lives. Reframe our days with Your rhythms of grace in Jesus’ name. Amen.