The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Several years ago, Patrina and I took a weekend trip to Chicago, and part of the time there included a performance of “A Christmas Carol.” While it is not an overtly Christian story, it is one of my favorite stories this time of year. Dickens tells a beautiful story of redemption and second chances even when it seems that we have reached the point of no return.

Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge may have been a caricature of a miserly, bitter old man in desperate need of a change of heart, but if we are honest with ourselves, aren’t we all imperfect and unlovable?

We are reminded that not one of us is righteous – even the best of us come up short. Yet God loves the undeserving, the unlovable, and reaches out to us as the verse from Zephaniah reminds us. God was willing to walk among us as a Man because He loves us – no matter what. He is the mighty one who will save. He is the One who rejoices when the lost is found (Luke 15).

The most telling change discovered in Scrooge’s awakening (both physically and spiritually) is his sense of joy and with that there is hope.

Every one of us needs the “Mighty One who will save” and He will rejoice with us in the process.