A belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year to all you ladies!
Christmas-time is full of family traditions. In my family, all of us kids get together when we wake up and wait for mom and dad to give us the go-ahead, then we run to our stockings just like we did when we were little. After we have sufficiently emptied our stockings and laughed at all the little gifts, we have a full breakfast together and read the Christmas story together. Then we exchange the rest of the gifts and Christmas is considered over with at that point.
This year we did a few things a little bit differently.
The first was: When we read the Christmas story (Luke 1-2), we each took different perspectives and thought about what they were thinking in that moment.
Joseph: what faith to take a woman who was not pregnant with his child against the rumors of society and love her to the fullest...
Mary: what a responsibility and a blessing to stand against society's rumors pregnant yet still a virgin (who's gonna believe that, right?) Did she know the fullness of what this child would do? Luke 2:19 says "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."
The shepherds: minding their own business and this impressive figure comes in the sky and starts talking to them out of nowhere.. but "Do not be afraid"... yeah, ok, sure... and the depth of what they heard. Multitudes of angels singing "Glory to God in the Highest" What would that have resonated in their souls? Who would believe them when they went and told all they saw that it was all true? That they found a baby in a manger who is Christ the Lord.
The angels: 1 Peter talks about the angels longing for what has been revealed to us. What was it like for the angels to be a part of the declaration of Jesus coming? What it a normal thing for them? They are in the presence of God all the time, yet for a brief moment they left heaven to tell the lowest of the low (the shepherds) that God himself had come to earth. Were they all jumping at the chance to come, that's why there were thousands that lit up the sky?
How often do I take this story for granted? Growing up in the church, it's told all the time that Jesus came to earth to become a man to live a perfect life, to die an undeserved death on our behalf, defeating the sin we placed upon Him, so we could live in eternity with Him. How often do I overlook the gravity of His sacrifice? How did His coming directly affect those immediately around Him? How does it affect us today and every day?
Going green,
Jenny
Christmas-time is full of family traditions. In my family, all of us kids get together when we wake up and wait for mom and dad to give us the go-ahead, then we run to our stockings just like we did when we were little. After we have sufficiently emptied our stockings and laughed at all the little gifts, we have a full breakfast together and read the Christmas story together. Then we exchange the rest of the gifts and Christmas is considered over with at that point.
This year we did a few things a little bit differently.
The first was: When we read the Christmas story (Luke 1-2), we each took different perspectives and thought about what they were thinking in that moment.
Joseph: what faith to take a woman who was not pregnant with his child against the rumors of society and love her to the fullest...
Mary: what a responsibility and a blessing to stand against society's rumors pregnant yet still a virgin (who's gonna believe that, right?) Did she know the fullness of what this child would do? Luke 2:19 says "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."
The shepherds: minding their own business and this impressive figure comes in the sky and starts talking to them out of nowhere.. but "Do not be afraid"... yeah, ok, sure... and the depth of what they heard. Multitudes of angels singing "Glory to God in the Highest" What would that have resonated in their souls? Who would believe them when they went and told all they saw that it was all true? That they found a baby in a manger who is Christ the Lord.
The angels: 1 Peter talks about the angels longing for what has been revealed to us. What was it like for the angels to be a part of the declaration of Jesus coming? What it a normal thing for them? They are in the presence of God all the time, yet for a brief moment they left heaven to tell the lowest of the low (the shepherds) that God himself had come to earth. Were they all jumping at the chance to come, that's why there were thousands that lit up the sky?
How often do I take this story for granted? Growing up in the church, it's told all the time that Jesus came to earth to become a man to live a perfect life, to die an undeserved death on our behalf, defeating the sin we placed upon Him, so we could live in eternity with Him. How often do I overlook the gravity of His sacrifice? How did His coming directly affect those immediately around Him? How does it affect us today and every day?
Going green,
Jenny
Post a Comment