Alone No More

In the last post, when I wrote about the sweetness of being with family at Christmas, I realized that many people have such dysfunctional families, there is no “Home Sweet Home.” For them, Christmas can be one of the loneliest times of year. As I thought about this sad reality, I thought it oddly contradictory, because the message of Christmas is “Emmanuel—God with us.”

For the disconnected peoples of earth, this has to be the greatest Christmas message: Jesus came to indwell us, and we will never be alone again. And not only have the Father and Son made our hearts their home (John 14:23), we have been raised up with Christ and are presently seated in the heavenlies with them (Eph. 2:6). So, not only are we His dwelling place; His is ours. Think about that! We are living in the fellowship of the whole heavenly realm. When Jesus departed this earth, His last words were, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). Alone no more.