Today is June the 25th. Six months stand between where we are and the actual date of Christmas. However, tonight, in my office, someone from our church had placed two Christmas CD's on my desk. Surely, they know me and they know my adoration for Christmas. What causes me to listen to Christmas music when the temperatures are reaching the mid-nineties? The fact that He came. The fact that heaven met earth in Bethlehem, that light pierced the darkness and that light could never be extinguished.
I have often struggled with self-worth issues and loneliness. I am a bit awkward and admit that much of my life, I have felt like an inconvenience to others. I try to do everything myself and do all that I can to help others and stay out of the way. It is Christmas that reminds me that, though I struggle to see myself in any positive way, the Lord thought enough of me to come. That He would willingly give up heaven to walk amongst this earth for me and for all those in need of Savior is mind-blowing. He chose to come, embracing the will of the Father, beginning the trek to the cross.
In every religion of the world, man tries to work their way to their god. For Christians, God came to us, His Son wrapped in cloth and placed in a manger. He came for the rich and the poor, the accepted and the outcast, the man and the woman. He came for the Gentile and the Jew, the young and the old, the hopeful and the hopeless. He came for those who were sick, those possessed, the lonely, the lame. He came for every race.
Christmas reminds me of the Christ who needed not to come in a majestic entrance, but in a humble arrival in a manner no one would have expected. A manger in Bethlehem served as the welcome for the King of kings, the Lord of lords. Christmas reminds me that to this earth, He came. And He came for me. That gives me value, a worth not found in the eyes of the world, but a lasting value in the eyes of the Creator, my God. He wanted to be with me. He longs to be with you as well. As the Christmas hymn beckons us, "O Come, let us adore Him." He certainly proved his adoration for us by coming to the world to die for you and me.
