Merry Christmas!

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11).

Think of everything that has happened in the past 100 years.

100 years ago the earth’s population was only 1.9 billion. Most adults didn’t own a car. There was the great depression, World War Two, and the moon landing. 

The 80’s and 90’s saw the rise of the internet. Today, 500 hours of new video content is uploaded to YouTube every minute. Your average iPhone has 100,000 times more processing power than the computer that sent the Apollo spacecraft to the moon.

If you got into a time machine and went back to the year 1924 and tried to convince people what the future would be like, they’d most likely say, ‘You’re crazy!’

Having looked backward, let’s look forward as well. What will life be like in 100 years from now?

If the world population continues at the same rate of growth there will be 35.5 billion people in 2124. To be honest, it’s hard to know what will happen next. C.R. Wiley says that artificial intelligence is like a tsunami waiting just off the shoreline of our existence. Do we even know what is in this Pandora’s box? I also heard it suggested we’ll all have personal robots.

In short, we don’t know. It is the great unknown. Just how someone going back in time to 1924 might have seemed crazy when describing the future, would we have the same response to someone who visited us from 2124?

My point is this. What happens is less important than who it happens with. Jesus is Immanuel—“God with us” (Matthew 1:23). With Christ, the good news is always bigger than the bad news. A weary world can rejoice because of a Redeemer who triumphs over demons and darkness, who brings hope where there is despair, and who offers peace and security where others only see uncertainty.

It’s not truly the unknown if you’re not alone.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas. And remember, as we look into the future, what happens is less important than who it happens with. 

Are there question marks? Sure there is. But it’s not truly the great unknown if you’re not alone. Christ is Immanuel, “God with us.” So do not be afraid.

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Notes and extra content:

—Pause alert: The Up Devotional will go on pause after today (December 25) and resume on January 2, 2025.

–“A serious historical deep dive into the Nativity.” Are you looking for more during this Christmas seasons? Click here to listen to this piece I put together on Luke 2:1-20.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.