Something that I have thought of for years is the saying: "Never look at the manger without seeing the cross." I think she has captured that thought beautifully . . .
Who do you say that Jesus is? Who is He to you? Is He not real to you? Like someone with that great of power could not possibly exist? Jesus was never meant to be thought as a fantasy; as something so great that He could never exist. He was and is as real as you and me. But yet we choose to put Him in a place in our minds as something that does not exist, a fantasy that is an old tale to tell. Who do you say Jesus is? I'll give you my answer since I am not talking to you all face to face . . . Jesus to me, is Someone who can not be matched; no one will ever be better than Him to me. Not my family, not my friends, not a hollywood actor, a president, etc. They will never compare to my Jesus, my Savior. I want to give you a mental picture, in your head, today and just bear with me here. I want you to picture a newborn baby; a beautiful newborn baby with no flaw, with beautiful soft skin, full head of hair, just absolute perfection in every way. And as you hold him, his little fingers grab yours and it just fills your heart with joy. Now as you're experiencing all this joy holding him, someone tells you this baby was born to die for you and the rest of the world, for your sin and everyone else who has ever sinned. What would you say if someone said that to you and it came true? . . . . Several years pass and you get to know Him, the One that was born to die for you; and as years pass He shows you just how much He loves you with each and every passing day. You hear how He performed miracles and the more you hear of what He has done with His life, you fall in love with Him even more! You say "there is just nothing like this man! He is perfect and has no flaw, He loves everyone! And He makes me want to be a better person." Lets say at this point in time 33 years pass and you forget all about the person saying to you that this man was born to die for you; for your sin . . . Then you hear one night that He was arrested for no reason; He couldn't possibly be put to death, He has committed no crime! So you hear word of His trial. He is to be put to death and crucified; your heart sinks and you remember that the little baby (that was adored and praised over on December 25th, just 33 years ago.) was sent to die for you and the world. How could that be possible? How could a man who is perfect and has no sin, has never done one thing wrong want to die for you and the world, for crimes that are not even His to bear?! You hear that during His trial while He is being spit on, and being slapped; that He never fought back; He never said anything to defend His innocence, He let everyone falsely accuse Him. And He was tortured and killed for us; for you. Because He loved/loves you/us that much. He was raised from the dead after three days and He is coming back. Now, I know we all have never met Jesus or watched Him grow up like I am portraying in this mental picture; but we all know, or will know, His story. Jesus, a perfect man with no flaw or fault was born to die for you; for the world. Who do you say Jesus is? . . . . . I say He is my Savior. I say He is THE Savior; are you ready for His return? Christmas is not about santa, Christmas is not about presents, Christmas is not about discounts or money, Christmas is not about you. CHRISTmas is about Christ Jesus. It is about a cross that we were meant to bear, about blood that we were supposed to shed and about nails that should have pierced our skin. But instead, a Savior put Himself in human form to only die so we could live. This is Christmas; this is why we celebrate our Savior's birth and this why we sing Glory to the newborn King! God Bless your day.
Please remember Who CHRISTmas is all about. Without CHRIST, there is no CHRISTmas.
From our family to yours ~ God's richest blessings upon you and your family this CHRISTmas.
Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><
That was a lovely post on the Savior. #heisthegift and I share with you a great love for my Savior and all he has done for me.
ReplyDeleteBlessings for these marvelous thoughts today. Hugs!