Scripture: Isaiah 1:24-31 (NIV)

Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes
and avenge myself on my enemies.
I will turn my hand against you;
I will thoroughly purge away your dross
and remove all your impurities.
I will restore your leaders as in days of old,
your rulers as at the beginning.
Afterward you will be called
the City of Righteousness,
the Faithful City.”

Zion will be delivered with justice,
her penitent ones with righteousness.
But rebels and sinners will both be broken,
and those who forsake the Lord will perish.

“You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks
in which you have delighted;
you will be disgraced because of the gardens
that you have chosen.
You will be like an oak with fading leaves,
like a garden without water.
The mighty man will become tinder
and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
with no one to quench the fire.”

The focus of Star Wars Rebels is on the planet of Lothal. From the first episode, when the Ghost crew meets Lothal native Ezra Bridger, through to the end of the show, the focus most of the time is on removing the Empire from the planet and liberating the people being oppressed there. Through setbacks and sidetracks, eventually the show’s final episodes come down to taking down the Empire on this world.

It’s probably not much of a spoiler to say that they succeed and, because the end of Rebels is very close to the time when Rogue One and A New Hope happen, the Empire is distracted enough not to ever return to the planet. The people of Lothal are completely freed, liberated to do what they want without the shadow of the Empire hanging over them.

Liberation is a theme of the Lord’s as well. Time and again in the Bible He talks about freeing His people from their chains, chains that they have often forged themselves with their disobedience and arrogance. Here in Isaiah, he talks about restoration of leaders and the deliverance of Zion. The Lord isn’t planning to leave things just the way they are but rather to make them more like the way they should be.

How He does that, of course, is by sending His Son to Earth to become one of us, to deliver us from our sins by living a sinless life and sacrificing it for us. His love for us is so strong that He sweeps away everything in between Him and us. We don’t have to be held down on this terrestrial ball. We can have true freedom through Him.

We don’t take advantage of it often though, do we? Especially at this time of year there feels like so many different burdens keeping us from truly experiencing happiness and joy. There are presents to buy and gifts to wrap and houses to decorate and parties to attend and and and. If we let that be the focus of this season, that will bring us down so quickly into bondage, serving our calendar and our checklists over the Creator.

We can’t set aside all of our responsibilities, but we can try to carve out time to sit and appreciate what God has done and why we celebrate this season. Maybe it’s a late night session with a room illuminated only by Christmas lights. Maybe it’s taking the time to pray over the people we are sending Christmas cards to. However you want to make it work, be sure to take the time to realize what Christmas really is and be liberated from your seasonal burdens!