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It is time to seek the Lord | Christmas Message 2020

We live in uncertain and challenging times. All our lives have been impacted in one way or another by the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. Some who read this may have suffered from the virus or sadly lost loved ones through it. Livelihoods may have been affected through loss of work and young people’s education disrupted. Others may be struggling with loneliness from the need to self-isolate.

Many of us have missed being with family and friends. We have probably all experienced a range of emotions, including sorrow, sadness, frustration, anger, fear and despair. The freedoms and routines that we had long taken for granted were suddenly thrown into disarray. We have learnt that we are not in control and are having to live with uncertainty about the future.

For some of us it may seem that life is on hold, so many of our plans have had to be postponed. We may wonder when the situation will ever come to an end and we hope that it soon does. Nevertheless, what has happened has given us an opportunity to pause and reflect on what is really important in life; to take a step back, to hear the birds singing and to enjoy the beauty of creation all around us, to help others where we can, and not least, time to think about what happens beyond this life. One of the clear messages from the Bible is that it is time to seek the Lord and we have such a time as this to do just that!

The Bible tells us that we have all sinned and broken God’s perfect law. Even as we need a vaccine to protect us from the physical effects of Covid-19, so we need protection from the eternal consequences of our sin, which can only be found in God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is with us every day, even in our darkest hour, waiting for us to call on Him in prayer.

Our circumstances may change but Jesus is ‘the same yesterday, today and for ever’ (Hebrews 13.8). He wants us to seek forgiveness for our sins and to trust Him so that we can then enjoy his daily presence and peace and have real hope for the future.

‘Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near’ (Isaiah 55.6).