Christmas Day
Finally, here we are. After reading destruction prophecy after end times talk after destruction prophecy after end times talk here I get to write about Christmas.
The culmination of it all: Jesus.
The Bible, everything it says, points to this: Jesus. Jesus, the humble, unfathomably compassionate, miracle-working, personal Savior God in human baby form lying in a smelly itchy manger in the cold Bethlehem air. Poor. Newborn. God.
The baby that changed the world, inside and out.
A lot of what you do today may not actually point to Jesus...just like our daily lives. We wake up in the morning, make our bed, drink our coffee, go to work, watch TV, and go back to sleep. Today may not be as monotonous but it will be just as easy to consciously forget WHO this is about.
For Mary and Joseph, for the shepherds, for the inn keepers, the wise men... that first Christmas day could have been just as monotonous. The reality of it all could have deafened the majesty of it all. These were just people. Poor, humble people who were just living their lives. Mary was uncomfortable, in labor, scared, homeless. Joseph was tired, overwhelmed, striving. The shepherds were lonely, working, bored. And none of this had consciously anything to do with Jesus.
But then for all these regular people there were interruptions: real-life interruptions...that had to have made them more conscious than ever before.
A baby born, a virgin birth.
A bright star.
A whole. choir. of angels. singing.
GLORY.
GLORY GLORY GLORY.
Today, bask in that as much as you possibly can.
GLORY.
Allow today to be the real-life interruption that makes you more conscious than ever before. Because tomorrow you will go back to the daily grind. Tomorrow won't be Christmas anymore, tomorrow you will have to move on from the pretty and not-so-pretty manger scene. Tomorrow you will have to not forget today, but hold onto today because Jesus Christ's ministry is what your life is about.
Read this out loud, to your family, to yourself. Read this out loud today.
Luke 2:8-14 CSB
"The shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good new of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.'
"Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angle, praising God and saying