Ian & Jocelyn Barker

Belated Merry Christmas to you! Jocelyn and I spent the past week in Connecticut with Jocelyn’s family and had a great time. The highlight for us was being able to meet Sova Grace Turner. She is the Indian girl who was adopted by Mike & Jill, Jocelyn’s sister and brother-in-law, at the end of August. You can see pictures of her with us at Jill’s blog. She is so cute and has picked up the English language so well! She refers to herself in the third-person, which is cute, and wants me to shave my beard, which is…still cute.

This Christmas I was struck with the need to have reality in my life. I want to know Jesus as being more real than those things which I can touch and smell. I want to have a firmer confidence in Jesus’ return than I do in the fact that I will wake up in the morning. I feel that I have more hope in things for this life, than I do for things that are to come upon Jesus’ return. This should not be the case.

I was watching “The Nativity Story” movie a few nights ago and was struck with the insanity of Jesus being born into this world 2,000 years ago. Just the fact that He exists should blow my mind on a daily basis and cause me to forget all earthly pleasures and ambitions. Contrary to what some might think, this isn’t a rejection of the physical, or escapism. When I see that Jesus took on real flesh, walked on real ground, and transformed real people, it makes life so much more meaningful and beautiful.

Rather than placing my hope in things whose source is from the world, I can place my hope in the Man who is sitting on a throne in heaven and will one day split the skies to set-up His Kingdom on earth. I will have entrance into this Kingdom by having faith today, and will have a reward in this Kingdom by walking in obedience today.

My attitude in the face of difficulties should not be one of grumbling or selfishness, but joy and endurance. Through difficulties, yea, afflictions, my reward in the resurrection age will become more glorious if I respond in trust and joy.

Of course, this is how things should be, yet I still grope around in the dark having to convince myself that this is not a fairy-tale. This is reality. The Man who is sitting at the right hand of God in the heavens is more real than the gifts I received for Christmas. The hope of His coming to eradicate the earth of wickedness and the wicked is more sure than any earthly success I might attain.

If only I could live like all of this is real…