January 7, 2015 - The Work of Christmas Begins

January 7, 2015 - The Work of Christmas Begins
Jon Twitchell

The tree has been taken down. The decorations are packed away for another year. Unwanted presents have been returned (or saved for next year's re-gifting). Perhaps you turned off the Christmas playlists on your iPod, or you bought next year's Christmas cards on clearance. It may seem that life is slowly returning to normal.

The writers of Advent Longings hope that you have grown deeper in Christ this season. We want to thank you for joining us on our devotional journey. (On a personal note, I'd like to thank our writers, our translators who republished us in Russian, and especially our readers!) 

Despite the ending of the season, it is our prayer that life won't actually return to normal, but that the message of Christmas will stay with you in a deeper way throughout the year.

We'd like to leave you with these words by Howard Thurman:



When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with the flocks,
then the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry,
to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among all peoples,
to make a little music with the heart…
And to radiate the Light of Christ,
every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say.
Then the work of Christmas begins.