“Come, Lord, Jesus…”
There is something beautiful in these words. Yet our family mumbles them at the dinner table as our traditional prayer before our meal. Come. An invitation to The Most Holy uttered as something to get out of the way before the grub.
The word for the phrase, “Come, Lord Jesus,” is “Maranatha,” an Aramaic word that Jews, knowing the chaos and oppression the world around them offered, began saying to replace the greeting, “Shalom,” meaning peace. For them, the world offered no peace and fear was so widespread, they often chose not to gather together publicly. Sounds a bit familiar, doesn’t it?
Over two thousand years ago, with no hope for peace in the world, the Jews instead found peace in the promise of the coming of the Lord. “Maranatha, means the Lord is coming,” or “Come, oh Lord.” This word is found at the end of 1 Corinthians 16:22, and I love how The Message version of the Bible translates it,
“Make room for the Master!”
Make room…in our hearts, our minds, and our homes. That is where we find the peace we so desperately need. December can be a month we just want to get over because it adds even more chaos to already full schedules. Let this December be intentionally different. Let us make room for the Master. Let us slow down, sit at the manger, and revel in how that little baby coming into the world changes everything. For eternity. That tiny baby that lay in the manger, was evidence God was at work, changing our entire eternal destiny, and most of the world didn’t even know. Right now in our own lives, He is working in ways we don’t even know.
Come, Lord Jesus…Maranatha.
Dear Lord, help this Christmas to be more of You, less of the chaos and noise. Help me to slow down and make room for You. Meet me, Lord, in the simplicity and quiet of the stable. Allow me Your peace and guard it in a world that threatens to steal it every moment of the day and night. Help me to teach my family that no matter what is happening around us, You bring a peace the world cannot even understand. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.
– Mel Anderson