Rend Collective - Campfire Christmas DevotionalSample

“Shining Light” Devotional Rend Collective You are a force, you are a constant source Yeah, you are a shining light Incandescent in the darkest night Yeah, you are a shining light Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. - 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 (ESV) Shining Light is written by a Northern Irish band called Ash. It’s not our song, but it appears on our album. It’s not a Christian song or even a Christmas song! So then how did it end up on our Christmas record? Well, partially because it’s a beautiful song we grew up listening to and singing. But also because Christmas is all about the sacred reclaiming the secular and giving it new life and meaning in Christ. So as we sang these words, we found they spoke truth and beauty when we put Jesus at the centre of them. But isn’t that how it is with all things in our world? Everything and everyone is given a chance at new birth through Jesus. The mission of Christmas is reclaim what sin and the world had darkened. When Jesus came into the world as a baby, he erased the divide between the human and the divine— he was fully both. And through him all things can experience new birth and life. He came to reconcile the world to the himself, to close the divide, to gather what was lost. Christmas is all about this mission of reconciliation, and giving back life its true meaning— communion and joy with himself. But the mission of reconciliation doesn’t stop with Jesus, it’s been entrusted to us to bring to the world. We are new life ambassadors sent into the world to close the divide between the divine and the human through the power of Jesus. Whether its your heart, a relationship in your life, or even a song— everything can be made new. It’s never too late, the night is never too dark, and the beginning never too frail. Because we have a Saviour who came in the coldest, darkest of nights in the form of a weak and helpless baby. And though him we claim our redemption and new life. What in your life is crying out to be made new? This Christmas take heart, because Jesus has already done the reconciling— you don’t need to make yourself right with him. He will make you new if only you invite him in.