Celebrate winter

Why are you cast down, O my soul? . . . Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance. — Psalm 42:5

I love living where there are four seasons. But even though I love settling down with a good book by a crackling fire when it’s snowing, I must admit that my love for the seasons grows a little dim when the long gray days of winter drone on into February.

Yet regardless of the weather, there is always something special about winter: Christmas! Thankfully, long after the decorations are down, the reality of Christmas still lifts my spirits no matter what’s happening.

If it weren’t for the reality of Christ’s birth, not only would winter be dark and dreary, but our hearts would be bleak and have nothing to hope for. No hope for the freedom from guilt and judgment. No hope of His reassuring and strengthening presence through dark and difficult times. No hope for a future secured in heaven.

In the winter of a troubled life, the psalmist asked, “Why are you cast down, O my soul?” The remedy was clear: “Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance” (Ps. 42:5).

In C. S. Lewis’ tales of Narnia, Mr. Tumnus complains that in Narnia it is “always winter and never Christmas.” But for those of us who know the God who made the seasons, it is always Christmas in our hearts! — Joe Stowell

When our lives are heavy laden,

Cold and bleak as winter long,

Stir the embers in our hearts, Lord;

Make Your flame burn bright and strong. — Kieda

READ: Psalm 42

Let the reality of Christmas chase away the blahs of winter.

The Bible in one year:

• Leviticus 25

• Mark 1:23-45