Christmas Musing #2 Something New

 

19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19

I like new things. You like new things. The automotive, clothing, and technology industries depend upon our love of the new. The truck sitting in my drive works well. It is a bit worn. I purchased it new in 2004 after I returned from Iraq and have driven it for over 150,000 miles, and it still works the way it used to…with the exception of the heater and defroster. But I still look over the new trucks and want; until I look at the price tag that is. I find it hard to plunk down over $50,000 for a vehicle I’m going to throw things in. But, I still look. I like shiny new things. 

    This morning we festooned our house with Christmas decorations. We have some decorations that I made as a child. There is no lack of decorations for our house; however, every year we browse the isles of local stores looking for some new thing to put up in our house. Driving past the mall, I noted a full parking lot. Retailers build their business model counting on our desire for new things every year. To satiate that desire, we flock to the stores, cash in hand, ready to purchase the newest thing. In many ways, we’ve transformed the meaning of Christmas into an orgy of new things; yet, God still yearns to do new things in us.

    I do not know about you, but even at the age of sixty-two, I need new things, and I’m not speaking of my hairline. I still find areas of my life that need renewing. Ask Christy or my kids, and they will tell you that I still get unreasonably angry at times. I need renewal. Christmas comes with the promise of new things. In Isaiah 42, the prophet tells us about the coming savior and what kind of king he will be. He will be different. “The bruised reed he will not break, and the faintly burning wick he will not quench, he will faithfully bring forth justice,” Isaiah 42:3 Later on in the chapter he speaks of “new things.”

    That is the true hope of Christmas, this “new thing” God desires to bring about. Christmas reminds me that God is the master renewer. He longs to change me, to rebuild me, to renew my spirit. When I approach the manger, the light of the king shines on me, revealing those things that do not conform to His plan, those things I truly find shameful. But, I can trust Him. The bruised reed He will not break. Even though I may feel bruised and battered by this world, stained by my own failure, I can trust Him to renew me. The babe in the manger is the great new thing, the something different, the thing that I really down deep need. The new truck, the new technology, the new Christmas ornaments do not meet my true need for renewal. Jesus, the promised one, He meets my need for new. Bethlehem reminds me that the old has passed away and the truly new has come.