December 21, 2012

It is beautiful outside, with a dusting of snow that blew in yesterday. Bethany will fly here from Los Angeles this afternoon, as David and Danelle drive here from O’Fallon tonight. For me, it has been a slow adjustment over the 5 years that Audrey and I have lived in this house in Springfield that this is not “home” for my adult children. They do not live here. They did not grow up here. They come here to visit. Bethany has not been here for 12 months. Even though there is a room in the lower level with her furniture in it, her home is in California, she has a California drivers license and will pay taxes this year as a resident of California. And, this is all very good. I am pleased with how our children have grown up and are making their way in the world, which makes their visit this weekend even more special. 

Mark 9:1-13

Jesus took Peter, James and John up to a high mountain by themselves. “He was transfigured there before them; and his garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus.” (Verses 2-4) This was a pivotal experience for this inner circle of three disciples. The reality that Jesus was the son of God, acknowledged by the law, represented by Moses, and the prophets, represented by Elijah  gave Peter, James and John the confirmation that would carry them to their deaths as confident witnesses to His person and assurance to the reality of their own salvation.

For John Wesley, the experience that transformed him was Aldersgate. For Billy Graham, it was when he made a commitment to trust the Bible as the word of God. For me, it was an August Saturday night in 1974 at the youth for Christ meeting on Anderson’s farm when I said “yes, Lord” and invited Christ to be born in me, that I might have eternal life and serve Him with my earthly life. I did not feel any emotional responses or see visions, but as I drove away from that farm I knew that there had been a significant change in Bruce Baxter, and that this would impact the rest of my life. It has. I joyfully look forward to the presence of God each day, and serving Him with all that I am.

On this the shortest day of the year, with the sun low in the southern sky, may I experience the Son rising in my heart, the transfiguration of a common life, now 56 years old into an uncommon follower of Christ, in a world in which darkness still prevails, but in which the Light of the World has come, born in Bethlehem, risen from the dead, and reigning in the hearts and lives of His servants around the world. Come Lord Jesus, come.