December 26

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. —Ephesians 3:17-19

There is so much we don’t know about the universe. Google “mysteries of the universe” and you can easily go down a black hole, pun intended, of mind-blowing topics. What goes on in black holes, with gravity so powerful and dense that not even light can escape? What exactly is dark matter and how does it work to hold fast-moving galaxies together? And what about dark energy that seems to be pushing the universe apart, expanding more and more quickly? Incredible imagery from the orbiting Hubble Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and infrared Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed exploding supernovae like the Crab Nebula, as well as thousands of other galaxies across deep space. It seems the more astronomers and physicists discover, the more there is that we don’t understand. Maybe we never will.

For our God who is infinite and eternal, nothing is impossible. And if He is the Creator of a potentially infinite universe, then love is in and of His entire cosmic work,wherever His presence reaches, without end. Is your mind bending yet? And we think the oceans are deep! This is the same endless love embodied and extended to us in Jesus. Paul says the love of Christ surpasses knowledge. Nothing can contain it. Everything pales in comparison to it: our pains and problems, our complaints and questions, even our very existence and universe. Let’s open our hearts as widely as possible to God’s unfathomable love in this season and always.

What is your concept of eternity? What will you do to let your mind and heart be blown by God’s all-consuming love this Christmas?