Inspirational Bible Verses

Why celebrate Christmas? Several years ago I remember saying to Daddy that Christmas is not about expensive gift giving. He was somewhat hopeful as he gently challenged me….”so what is Christmas all about?”  He hid his disappointment as I mumbled something to the effect of it being about spending quality time with family and friends. I knew what it should be about, but at that time it had little meaning to me. I loved the “cool” Christmas breeze in Jamaica. I looked forward to the “get-togethers” with family and friends. I looked forward to the cute Christmas plays depicting the birth of Jesus. I looked forward to the office parties that were so many in the month of December that we often had more than one to attend on a weekday night.  I loved the Jamaican traditional meals that would be sure to include ham flavored with brown sugar, mustard, cloves and pineapple, potato salad, gungo rice and peas. I loved the Christmas cakes and puddings.  I looked forward to drinking sorrel flavored with ginger. Who wouldn’t love Christmas?

“…and the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE.” Ezekiel 48:35b

Jehovah Shammah! The LORD is there! Earlier Ezekiel warned the exiles already in Babylon of imminent judgment. He warned that the glory of the LORD will depart from the temple and that Jerusalem will fall into the hands of the Babylonians. The warnings of the prophets fell on deaf ears as the people remembered the promises of God, but forgot that these promises were conditional and were only applicable if they were obedient. After Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians, Ezekiel now tells of God’s plan for restoration and as he describes the New Jerusalem in painstaking details, he ends with God’s promise that the glory of the Lord, this glory that had previously departed, will be there. He delivers a message of hope. God punishes sin but He has a plan for restoration. What an inspirational bible verse! What a promise!