Contemplative at Christmas

December 15, 2014

Contemplative at Christmas

And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God,

and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

John 17:3

The very center, the very heart of the Christian life is Jesus. All that we are as Christians, all that we hope to be as the children of God, is hidden within the person of Jesus. As Christian mystics, that is, persons who have experienced something of Christ, people who have tasted the grace of God, we are now people who are ruled by thirst: our thirst for more of Christ.

Thomas Merton, a mystic who has gone before us, said that we learn to pray, by praying. The very center, the very heart of prayer for a mystic, is in responding to the call of our Abba, “Be still, and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46:10a). As we still ourselves before our Abba, we can immerse ourselves in His forgiveness, reconciliation and love that flow from Jesus. As we surrender our lives to the one who loved us and gave himself for us, we can accept our acceptance.

“Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: "You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted." If that happens to us, we experience grace. After such an experience, we may not be better than before, we may not believe more than before. But everything is transformed" (Paul Tillich).

I invite you to make time for two devotional journeys this Advent season. First, come quietly before “The light (that) shines in the darkness” (John 1:5) and accept that you have been accepted by that which is greater than you. Open your heart, and let this truth embed himself deeply within you.

Secondly, on another day, as you draw still before your Abba, read Colossians 1:15-20, and contemplate the supremacy of the one you thirst for, the one who desperately wants you to affirm:  “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me” (Song of Solomon 7:10 NRSV).

Enjoy being contemplative at Christmas; everything will be transformed!

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.