Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The True Meaning of Christmas


Once again I find myself failing to keep my “post a day” promise. I have been extremely busy the past few days, which caused me to crash around 9:00 last night. Now that I’ve had an adequate night’s sleep for the first time in 6 days, here is what I would have posted yesterday.
            I was sitting in church Sunday and was really struck by a simple, yet amazing thought. How often do we seriously contemplate the idea of Jesus coming to earth? I know it’s Christmas and the Nativity scenes dotted here and there don’t let us forget, but do we ever really contemplate what happened? The God of the universe came down to us in human form. He entered our world—for so long man has tried (somewhat in vain) to reach God, and here He comes down to us. Does that blow your mind?
            Imagine it, it was an ordinary day like many others. It was probably a clear night, like many June nights in the Middle East, and out of nowhere a chorus of Angels call the shepherds from their sleep to see the King. What they find is a baby in a manger, held by his mother and father. Imagine the surprise, and awe. Imagine the joy, knowing that for thousands of years man has been kept away from God and here it is, the link that we could not possibly forge. God realized that something had to be done to fix the mess Adam and Eve created, and there is was in that miraculous, divine baby. Years of pain, sorrow, and death ended that night when God came down to earth; salvation for all was at hand and we need only accept it.
            This Christmas season, try to really think about that miracle. The idea that God loves us so much that He came down here on earth. It was not easy, imagine being God of the universe and downgrading to our human limitations—yet He did it out of His immense love for us. It truly is a miracle, one that is far too hard to completely understand but a gift that we accept nevertheless.

No comments: