Advent Meditation: The One Gift We Need

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You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Ps. 16:11)

Reflect

I’ll tell you what I want for Christmas this year. The path of life. Would someone let me know when you find it? That’d be great. Thanks! Maybe this year the secret will end up wrapped beneath my Christmas tree.

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Christmas evokes so many nostalgic memories that I imagine the holiday can set me back on course in the path of life. Every Christmas I think, This year will be different. I’ll slow down, savor the moments, enjoy the sounds and sights and smells. I’ll spend the time thanking God for how he led me in the last year and how he promises to guide me in the next. And every year I stumble downstairs on Christmas morning and collapse in an exhausted heap—especially if I’m up late assembling toys and the kids wake up early.

When I’m straying amid especially busy times like the holidays, Psalm 16:11 helps draw me home. I wish the path of life was trouble-free and straightforward (Matt. 7:14). Then it might be easier to find and follow. But in my more spiritually lucid moments, I remember Jesus himself is the path—“the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). And following him isn’t so much about knowing where I’m going but trusting him to guide me.

Following Jesus isn’t so much about knowing where I’m going but trusting him to guide me.

I don’t know why I think it would be better to know what’s around the bend on the path of life. On March 10, 2020, would it have helped me to know what the next year had in store? Probably the opposite would have been true. I would have been overwhelmed with worry and grief. Yet through those dark days, Jesus never left me. Because he is the path of life, there is fullness of joy in his presence. And not even a global pandemic and its ongoing aftermath can steal that joy.

The Christmas season bombards us with promises of pleasure through receiving the perfect gift. If I could just get that red bow on a new car, then life would be OK. If someone special gave me that ring or necklace, then I’d be loved. But we all know better once we turn off the TV. I know this Christmas will look much like the ones before. I’ll eat too much food and gain too much weight. My kids won’t love their presents as much as I thought they would. Anticipation will give way to disappointment at some point when nostalgia doesn’t match reality.

Nothing, though, can take away the pleasures of Christ. He carried his cross to Golgotha so he could be the path to life. When he ascended to the right hand of the Father, you and I could enjoy pleasures forevermore. That’s the only Christmas gift we could ever really need.

Respond

Do you associate following Jesus with pleasure? What about Jesus brings you particular joy?

Rejoice

Jesus, joy of man’s desiring,
Holy wisdom, love most bright;
Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring
Soar to uncreated light.

– Martin Janus, “Jesus, Joy of Man’s Desiring”