The Seventh Day of Advent, 2016

Saturday, December 3, 2016
by Patience Nave

The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone.  Psalm 118:22   

The Baby Jesus looks so appealing, innocent and precious! Artists’ renderings of that first Christmas cause me to want to hold Him, smell His sweet Baby smell, let His tiny fingers curl around mine. Kept in a manger, who would not find Him attractive?

But he grew! Even his own brothers doubted His claims. Disciples listened to His every word, understood little and some of them went and followed Him no more.

He promised wondrous things – to teach, to guide, to protect, to heal them, to be our friend. He also promised them that if they dared to follow him, their life would be difficult, the personal cost tremendous – they would be criticized, ostracized, and victimized.

The difficulties, however, would not compare with the wonders in store for those who loved Him: He would never leave them; He would comfort them; they would become more like Him every day as eternity with God lay before them. Everlasting joy, no tears, no grief!

Many might accept the tiny baby, but more would reject the Cornerstone. They didn’t like the odds.

Father, thank you for Jesus Christ, this tiny baby who became the Chief Cornerstone of faith. Thank you for giving free will to choose -- yes, even to reject -- you. Help me today to recognize that my salvation was costly to you and accepting it for my own may be costly to me! Grant that your Cornerstone in me may be the beginning of a huge edifice of faith, reflecting you to the dying world around me! Amen.

And Then It Was Christmas: A Journey Toward Christmas
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, 2006,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator.