I Believe in Christmas

Who knew? I mean, really, who totally saw this coming??

A virgin married to a simple carpenter.
A nondescript town full of tired travelers . . . who were also pretty fed up with their government.
A stable.
A manger of straw.

Who really expected that?

I suppose Mary and Joseph, devout Jews, had read the ancient predictions of the prophets:
He would be born of a virgin.
He would be born in Bethlehem.
They may have understood in their hearts the magnitude of this Holy Night.

The magi seemed to have an inkling that something momentous was at hand. Their studies of astronomy led them to follow the strange star.

The shepherds on the Bethlehem hillside, tending their flock of sacrificial Passover sheep, were astounded . . . perhaps terrified . . . by the appearance of angels in the night sky. But they willingly obeyed the heavenly command to visit the stable. And they bowed in reverence before their tiny, swaddled king.

Even King Herod believed that a royal birth occurred. He killed thousands of Hebrew infants and toddlers to try to prevent this King from taking His throne.

I guess mankind should have completely expected the humble entrance of their Messiah King. 20-20 hindsight makes it clear that all the signs were there. Ancient prophecies were perfectly fulfilled. Supernatural signs announced His advent. The gates of hell mobilized to prevent His reign.

But I am thinking that not much has changed in more than 2,000 years. God still comes quietly and humbly and, often, secretly. He still places His presence in the hands of every-day people. He still performs miracles and signs and wonders that pretty much go unacknowledged and unappreciated. And the gates of hell still mobilize to prevent His reign in the lives and hearts of mankind.

And we, somehow, still often manage to miss it.

Or misunderstand it.
Or twist it to fit our own agendas and our own satisfaction and our own benefit.
Or ignore it all together.
Or even join the forces of hell to extinguish its light on the earth.

My hope and my prayer this Christmas Eve, is that you . . . that we . . . will not miss Him this year.

May we see Him . . .
even if His coming it is very humble . . .
even if He contradicts our preconceived ideas . . .
even if He interrupts our well-intentioned plans . . .
even if He costs us dearly . . .
even if His benefits don’t seem lofty and grand enough . . .
even if the gates of hell are aligned in battle against Him.

May we live this next year in awe of our Messiah’s intimacy instead of boasting of His favor.
And may be become more like Him in every way.

Even if that means our lives are hidden in Him.
Even if that means we will carry a cross.

"If anyone wishes to come after Me,

 he must deny himself,

and take up his cross and follow Me.

 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it;

but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world

and forfeits his soul?

Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Matthew 16:24-26

Belief is not an intellectual act; belief is a moral act whereby I deliberately commit myself.

—My Utmost For His Highest Oswald Chambers

I believe in Christmas.

Do you?