He set salvation of within reach!

Luke 1:67-79

Then Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he came and set his people free. He set the power of salvation in the center of our lives, and in the very house of David his servant, just as he promised long ago through the preaching of his holy prophets: Deliverance from our enemies and every hateful hand; Mercy to our fathers, as he remembers to do what he said he'd do, What he swore to our father Abraham--a clean rescue from the enemy camp, so we can worship him without a care in the world, made holy before him as long as we live. And you, my child, "Prophet of the Highest," will go ahead of the Master to prepare his ways, Present the offer of salvation to his people,

the forgiveness of their sins. Through the heartfelt mercies of our God, God's Sunrise will break in upon us, Shining on those in the darkness, those sitting in the shadow of death, then showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace.

Food for thought!

  

Filled with Holy Spirit, Zechariah spoke very good news to us, news that help us understand why God came and dwelt among us. It was, as Zechariah put it, to set the power of salvation within the center of our lives, that is, within reach.

This is what the gospel on Christmas day will tell us, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us". It means that the GOD came to dwell among us: 1Jo 1:1-2

From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in-- we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.

Since the first Christmas, God is within reach for all of us. Let us also be within reach of God. Let us not run away from him or from those who need our presence. Let us reach out to one another. This could be the best Xmas gift you ever gave.

One thing that is associated with the celebration of Christmas everywhere is giving. Christmas is the feast of giving. Christmas is the one time in the year when everyone is sure to give and receive a present, even if be only a Christmas card. People spent a lot of time and money shopping for the perfect Christmas gift. We put up Christmas trees to surprise family members with our gifts and to be surprised with theirs. Santa Claus is the perfect symbol of Christmas because Santa is the one who gives and gives and never gets tired of giving.

Christmas is a feast of giving even from God's point of view. For at Christmas we celebrate the mystery that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (John 3:16). God gives, and the people of God give, and that is Christmas. No matter how well or how poorly our lives seem to be going, we can give; there is nobody that is too poor as not to afford to give anything; nobody is too rich the s/he cannot get anything from anyone. We all need to give and get from each other.

It is easy to send flowers, it is easy to send a parcel, but to give the gift of ourselves, to make out the time to be with somebody, that is the gift that many people long for but do not receive at Christmas. We can, in addition to the flowers and parcels, give of ourselves, our presence, our time. We must find the time to visit and be with people. This is the greatest gift because its value cannot be calculated in terms of money. And all of us can afford it.