It is not only individuals who are in need of renewal
God promised to “turn the desert into a marshlands, and the dry ground into springs of water” (Is 41). It is not only individuals who are in need of renewal. The entire world moves from crisis to crisis, from one man-made disaster to another. The flourishing earth becomes a desert because of what we human beings do to it. Our carelessness, our wars, our exploitation of one another and of the Garden which God created for us have left behind desolation and destitution.
Just as peace must begin in our individual human hearts, so too the re-creation of the world depends upon our being individually renewed. What folly to be concerned about the state of the environment and not concerned about the state of our inner world. It is most important that our hearts begin to flourish anew, that we rediscover the God who has made all things. Then we will value all his gifts, both of nature and grace.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, when I pray this Christmas for your peace in the world enable me too to live in your peace. May I come fully to life so that I may be an effective witness to your life-giving power.