DAD'S RAMBLINGS --THE WONDER OF CHRISTMAS

AD'S RAMBLINGS – THE WONDER OF CHRISTMAS

"And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." (Luke 2:7)

The Christmas Story. I don't know about you, but sometimes I lose the awe and the wonder of it all because I have heard it so many times. But as I read it again, I am brought back to the excitement of it all.

The wonder that the God of heaven would come to this earth as a human and as a baby. The wonder that He would have to be laid in a manger instead of a comfortable crib in a palace. The wonder that the King of Heaven would be wrapped in swaddling clothes instead of royal garments. The wonder that God would use a common teenage girl to accomplish His plan instead of a royal princess. The wonder that the angel would call His name Jesus because He would be a Savior. The wonder that He would be born in lowly Bethlehem instead of Jerusalem, the center of power. The wonder that the angel would announce His birth to a bunch of lowly shepherds instead of to the editor of the Jerusalem Post.

What wonder. It leaves me awestruck.

Yet in God's eternal counsel, He often uses the lowly things of this world to accomplish His plan. As the Apostle Paul wrote, "The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of this world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are might, and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence" (I Corinthians 1:26-29).

If Jesus had been born in a rich, high-class family, then the grace of God would not be so clearly seen. We would attribute His success to His affluent circumstances.

God still uses the lowly people in the eyes of the world to accomplish His plans so that all the glory goes to Him. He still uses people who, like Mary, will say, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). The wonder of Christmas is still alive.

Love, Dad