A Family Resemblance

God separates first. Then God fills. And in between? God has always set aside sacred time — worship, prayer, Sabbath, community — not as obligations to check off, but as invitations to come close.

Jesus didn't just show mercy — he made it a defining mark of his people. He was describing people shaped from the inside out by the mercy they had already received.

God didn't wait for the world to clean itself up before he showed up. Jesus was placed in a feeding trough — a food trough — at birth. Not exactly where you'd expect to find a king, let alone the God who made everything. But that's the kind of God we serve.

In a world filled with endless distractions and competing desires, understanding what it truly means that "God is love" can feel overwhelming. Yet this fundamental truth about God's character offers us the most profound hope and direction for our lives.

As we go about our days, let us return frequently to the manger, remembering that God is still with us today, waiting to be born and reborn in our lives anew.