Presence please

There is substance in todays readings.  I read a devotional along with my Advent morning readings. 

Genesis 2:4-5  "When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens--and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground."

Made. Sent. Work. The beginning.

A Garden and a World.  Both in need of someone sent in order for the necessary work to be done.

"The Creation story has Christ's fingerprints all over it" 

This next excerpt is from my morning devotion.

"What you know of the world you inhabit is only the tip of the iceberg.  Submerged beneath the surface of the visible world are mysteries too vast for you to comprehend.  If you only could see how close I am to you and how constantly I work on your behalf, you would never again doubt that I am wonderfully caring for you.  This is why you must live by faith, not by sight, trusting in My mysterious majestic Presence."

Christmas time is another moment in our history when we ponder the mysterious, majestic Presence of the Christ-child entering the world we inhabit.  A mystery too "vast to comprehend".

If only we had eyes to see.

There was a world formed.  We read the Creation account, familiar with the story. And in Chapter 2 the words are specific. "God had planted a garden" God created a place and he placed someone in the garden to care for it.  Many generations later another man is placed in order to care for God's creation.  Colossians 1:17--"He is before all things and in him all things hold together." 

13-14 "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

We share this kingdom that this baby Jesus, born of a virgin, born in a stable manger stepped into. It feels solemn to me.  That our Creator cared enough to plant a garden, place a man into it to care for it and then placed another man into the world to care for all of creation.

"The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven."-1 Corinthians 15:47

I began todays thoughts with my devotion. I have heard it said, Christmas time is a time for "caring and sharing".  Somehow that has translated into, if I care for you then I give you a gift.  And I like to receive a gift as much as the next person. 

In that case, Presence please.