Zealous for Christmas

“The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:7)

God makes Christmas happen.

That’s a helpful reminder as we try to make Christmas happen. With so much to get done, present to wrap, cards to write, food to cook, decorations to put up, etc, etc we can easily be consumed by what we have to do. But Christmas is really all about what God has done for us.

“The Lord Almighty will accomplish this” is the way Isaiah finishes his little section in chapter 9 looking forward to Christmas. God makes Christmas happen. But it’s worth looking at what else Isaiah says in this short sentence.

We might expect Isaiah to say any number of things here. We might expect him to state: The power of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Of course, that’s right. What God wills, he has the power and authority to make happen. But Isaiah doesn’t say that.

We might expect Isaiah to say: The command of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. After all, God spoke the universe into place with a word. His command is all powerful. But Isaiah doesn’t say that.

What Isaiah says is this: The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. God makes Christmas happen and he is zealous to make it happen!

Zeal is defined as “great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective.” God doesn’t begrudge sending Jesus. God is not indifferent about his plan and purpose for salvation. He is eager! He is enthusiastic! He puts great energy into his pursuit of making Christmas happen!
Our energy and enthusiasm can wane during the Christmas period. Perhaps it’s during the washing up after Christmas dinner, or being woken up by small children in the early hours of the morning. When our excitement begins to drop, let’s remember that God’s excitement about Christmas never fades. His enthusiasm to show _you_ love and goodness and grace at Christmas never runs out. He is full of zeal.

The HTR blog is taking a break over Christmas and the New Year and will be back again in January!

Photo by Federico Beccari on Unsplash