taken for granted

A baby born in the cold gently sighs as he is being held warm by his mother, the divine Word reduced to a few unintelligible sounds. Then for the first time, the baby's eyes fix on his mother's. Deity straining to focus. The Light of the World, squinting. Tears pool in her eyes. She touches his tiny hand. Hands that once sculpted mountain ranges now cling to her finger. Mary looks up at Joseph, and through a watery veil, their souls touch. He crowds closer, cheek to cheek with his betrothed. Together they stare in awe at the baby Jesus, whose heavy eyelids begin to close. It has been a long journey. The King is tired.

And so with barely a ripple of notice, God stepped into the warm lake of humanity. Without protocol and without pretension. Where you would've expected angels, there were merely flies. Where you would have expected heads of state there were only donkeys, a few haltered cows, a nervous ball of sheep, a tethered camel, and a furtive scurry of curious barn mice.

Except for Joseph, there was no one to share Mary's pain or her joy. Yes, there were angels announcing the Savior's arrival, but only to a band of blue collared shepherds. And yes, a magnificent star shone in the sky to mark his birthplace but only three foreigners bothered to look up and follow it. Thus in the little town of Bethlehem… that one silent night, the royal birth of God's Son tiptoed quietly by… as the world slept.

Ken Gire, Moments With The Savoir

Christmas is not just a date on the calendar. It is not just an annual holiday. It is not a day to glorify selfishness and materialism. Christmas is the celebration of the event that set Heaven to singing, an event that gave the stars of the night sky a new brilliance.

Christmas tells us that at a specific time and at a specific place a specific Person was born. That Person was God of God, Light of Light, the Lord Jesus Christ.

From the lips of Him who came fell these words: "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" Luke 19:10. Like piercing trumpets, these words heralded the breaking in of the Divine to human history. They declare that Heaven has come to our rescue and that God has not left us to stumble alone on Earth's pathway. What a wonderful and glorious hope we have because of that first Christmas.

-Billy Graham, Hope For Each Day

Why do we forget so easily what God has truly done for us. There isn't a day that goes by that someone, somewhere doesn't ask, "Where is God? Has He abandoned us? We pray and He doesn't answer. Why?"

Know that He always answers your prayers, it just may not be the way you wanted. Each of us represents a tiny part of a huge plan that only He knows. We can not even begin to fathom the extent of it. That silent night so long ago was a part of God's plan. A plan that started so small, a plan that shined out through a child's eyes. God stepped down from his thrown and was born into human flesh to show us then and thousands of years later, that He would give up everything for us. That He would not abandon us. That He would save us from our sins so we could be reunited with Him. So when someone asks, "Where is God? What has He done to help me?" You have an answer, and if His Crucifixion isn't enough then just remember he lived this same life your living, only with no air conditioning or comfort fit shoes, no cell phones or cars with built in TV's. He lived a hard life, a simple life so when we needed someone to cry to about this world, He would understand. And we would not stumble alone.