By Katy Mariotti

What Can’t Be Packed Away

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“For I am sure that neither life nor death, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39 English Standard Version

To me the absolute worst part of the holiday season is when it’s over. Life has to get back to normal, we return to our jobs and school and all the other activities. January is still cold and dark and doesn’t really make the New Year feel very hopeful. Undecorating makes me sad as I hate to put the ornaments away, each of them representing a memory. The house feels so empty when it’s done. The Christmas magic is all packed up and put away.

This year, though, God has sent me messages of hope before I’ve had a chance to get down in the dumps. The messages have come from all over: a friend’s Facebook post about God being with us no matter what the new year brings, a sermon at church that included the above scripture, and even the silliness of the cat climbing into the decoration box (she curled up and napped there for over an hour while we took things down).  We celebrate Christmas as a holiday, and holidays come and go. But the FACT of Jesus’ birth, and the truth of His being alive today, stay with us always. The love of God will ALWAYS be there, in the joyous seasons and in the cold, dark ones too. The “Christmas magic” is that never-ending love, and I pray we can remember it and feel it all year long!

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado.