At Christmas time we naturally think of the birth of the baby Jesus. We ponder Mary, a young girl, pregnant, traveling many miles on a donkey with her husband Joseph. We picture the baby wrapped in cloths and placed tenderly in a manger.

Jesus did come to earth to be born as a baby. But the reason he came was so that we could have new birth. In verse three of this passage we read, "In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (NIV)

Sometimes we may feel we are dragging through life as dead men or women. We may be exhausted from trials that we are enduring, and feel unable to cope. Peter says these trials are like a refining fire--to prove us genuine in our faith. In this way we can share with the sufferings of Christ.

But as we endure, we can have the new life that Jesus came to give us. He doesn't want us to go through each day defeated or depressed. Rejoice! Jesus has come to bring a living hope. That's something that can carry us through the season and all through the year.