Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Twas the night before...Epiphany? Really?

Yes, it really is.  The twelve days of Christmas are almost to an end.  When the clock strikes midnight tonight, we will then change seasons, into the season of Epiphany.  In some ways, it is rather sad that the Christmas season is so short.  We have so many wonderful Christmas hymns and songs, dedicated to the infant Jesus, and the shortness of the season hardly gives us adequate time to dip our feet into those beautiful lyrics.

Yet, Epiphany is upon us.  Wait, some of you don't really know what Epiphany is?  Well, very briefly, Epiphany is the season between the birth of Jesus and the beginning of the season of Lent, which begins with Ash Wednesday.  During that time, we consider how Jesus revealed who He really is. 

That means that we have a few different focus points during this season.  We hear about Jesus' first miracles, signs which marked that He was the One sent by God.  We hear some of the teachings that He began, which clearly pointed to why He came into this world.  In some traditions, the day we observe as Epiphany is also called Three Kings Day, a celebration of the visit of the Magi to the child Jesus.  This is a fully appropriate introduction to the Epiphany season, as the star revealed where the King of the Jews was found, a revealing all on its own.

Twas the night before Epiphany, and all through the house, creatures were stirring, as God was in the house.  As we go through this season of revealing, my prayer is that God reveals His hope to you in Jesus afresh, and that you have many opportunities to reveal Jesus to others as their God, Savior, and hope.

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