Daily Devotional

When is the best week of the year? It is this week, Dec 25–31! It has long been my favorite. Why? Many reasons, not the least of which is that my birthday, Dec 28, always falls exactly in the middle, with Christmas at one end and New Year’s Eve at the other. Everything for me piles high together in one week, even all my gifts for the year. It is the end of the year with all its grand celebrations, and also the beginning of a new one with its ever-hopeful anticipations.

For me it is also the spirit of love, family, and giving & receiving. The best music of the year rings across the land, even in stores and open squares. Everything is lit up in a vast array of colors and designs, and decorations are everywhere from simple to elaborate. At the center of it all is a Child with His parents, Jesus, the promise of the redemption of the world in living form. He is small and vulnerable, but ready to unfold the eternal mystery of God, the translation of a dying world to the glory of the eternal city of God, Zion.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
In the city of our God, His holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the far north,
The city of the great King.
Psalm 48:1–2, NASB.

I was sitting in my special chair a few weeks back, with the Bible open during my time with the Lord that day. I paused and dreamed a little. There was a longing there. I thought of home, that special place that is yours with all your stuff, a shelter from the world with those you love. But my being yearned for more, and I gradually grasped a truth that was new to me.

I did not want a home that was mine, where I am in charge, where I pay the bills and do the maintenance. My spirit wanted to go home, to my father’s house, as when I was little. My father provided it all, paid the bills and did the maintenance. I wanted the type of home of my childhood, the true home which represented: My Father’s house (John 14:2), Mt Zion, the city of our God, beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, the city of the great King, which He has established forever.

Such is our future! The city with foundations for which Moses sought (Hebrews 11:10). It is a great time of year to remember our destination, Zion, the city of our God. It is a good time to reflect on the depth and quality of our love for God and the effectiveness of our service to Him over the past year. It is also a good time to make plans for our best year in Christ ever, the one we stand on the cusp of. All things are possible in that coming new year (Mark 9:23).

We are called at the end of Psalm 48 to assess Zion, to go around her, consider her ramparts, and go through her citadels. We are called to know her. Why? That having gleaned the true picture of that holy mountain city of God, the joy of all the earth, the city of the great king, we are to tell it to the next generation. Tell them that this is God, our God forever and forever.

May this for all of us be our best year yet! Zion is just over the next rise. Let us keep her in our sights always as we serve the Lord gladly. We will be home soon.

New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation