Echoes of CHRISTmas: a new light

Sorry this one is late, it's been a rough week. But I hope to have a New Years one out tomorrow! 

In the meantime enjoy! 

Luke 2:7

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

This verse is just packed full of so much truth and beauty if you really look. Imagine this, for you girls imagine that you are pregnant, that you are about ready to go into labor, you're in a place you've never seen before and every place you go to is so full they can't fit you anywhere. Eventually you find a dirty stable and at this point you're so tired and worn out that you don't care. Then you go into labor, now you're already weak from traveling so long to get here, and giving birth to your son probably requires just about all the strength you can muster. For us guys imagine this  imagine the woman you love, tired and weary from a long journey, all she wants to do, and all you want to do for her, is find a place where she can rest. Imagine the frustration that he must've felt when every single place that they went to turned them away. Imagine the worry when he looked on the woman that he adored afraid in a place where she'd never been, and being so close to having her child, he was probably stressed and frustrated, and probably scared as well. Then finally after searching for what probably seemed like forever, you find a stable where your precious wife can rest. Then she goes into labor. Now I'm pretty sure Mary didn't have a midwife or anything like that. So it was Joseph's job to help her deliver the child. 

You see the CHRISTmas story in its truthful form, is a story of seemingly ordinary people who are called to do extraordinary things. It's a story about people like you and I who were called to do what God called them to do. And then given the strength to accomplish it. Its a story of human weakness overcome by God's power. You see when we take out the pain, and the sorrow, the fear, and the weakness from the CHRISTmas story, than we lose the true beauty of it. When we take out the humanity of the CHRISTmas story than we lose what its really about. It's about God choosing to come down and be a part of our weak race. It's about Emanuel, God with us. The CHRISTmas story is not about perfect people who weren't afraid and who knew what they were doing, giving birth to the son of God. Its about broken people who were probably scared out of their wits and probably didn't know all the answers, giving birth to the perfect son of God. You see when we, in our weakness, choose to accomplish God's will anyway, then that shines a greater light onto God's strength, brighter than any perfection could ever shine. Our weakness, when it accomplishes God's purpose, is used for his ultimate glory.   

Luke 2:7b

...because there was no place for them in the inn.

This is the second thing I wanted to talk about. What a statement right there. There was no room for them. The inn couldn't spare room for the son of God. The inn keeper had become so preoccupied with his guests, his house had become so cluttered, that he didn't have the time or the space to help them. And as I was contemplating this, I realized something, that's exactly like my heart. We in our pride and arrogance, wether we know it or not, build up idols and altars in our hearts. These idols then begin to clutter up our hearts. It could be as simple as stressing over something you know The Lord wants you to trust him about. Little things like that begin to take over our hearts until suddenly, the space for the son of God, is little more than a manger. We, who were saved by his sacrifice, can't find room for him though he saved us from the wrath of God. This season, or I should say this next year, let's remember to slow down and let Jesus have room in our hearts. 

Hear the echoes of The Lord calling you to embrace you weakness and serve God even through it. And to make room in your heart for His glorious son! 

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.