PRAISE GOD THE MESSIAH HAS ARRIVED!

SCRIPTURE:
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave 
birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in 
a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 
(Luke 2:6-7)

MEDITATION:
Can you imagine how Mary felt when she gave birth 
to the One who would be the Messiah?
During her pregnancy, she must have wondered what He would look like.
Would He cry when He was born?
Would He want milk from the one who was His earthly mother?

What color hair would He have?
Would He look absolutely perfect?
Would He call her “Mama”?
What would be the first words He would speak?

Many, many questions must have been running through Mary’s mind, 
and now He was finally here.
The Messiah had finally arrived 
to lead people from the death of the world, to the life of salvation.

There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate 
to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays, 
like Christmas.
His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children 
to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.

One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to 
a Christmas Eve service in the farm community in which they lived. 
She asked him to come, but he refused. 
"That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come 
to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!" 
So she and the children left, and he stayed home.

A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. 
As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. 
He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. 
Then he heard a loud thump. 
Something had hit the window. 
Then another thump. 
He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet.
 
When the snow let up a little, 
he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window. 
In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. 
Apparently they had been flying south for the winter 
when they got caught in the snowstorm and could not go on.
 
They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. 
They just flapped their wings 
and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. 
A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed.

The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. 
The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. 
It is warm and safe; 
surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm.
So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, 
then watched and waited, 
hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside.

But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly 
and did not seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. 
The man tried to get their attention, 
but that just seemed to scare them and they moved further away.

He went into the house and came back out with some bread, broke it up, 
and made a bread crumbs trail leading to the barn. 
They still didn't catch on. 
Now he was getting frustrated. 
He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, 
but they only got more scared 
and scattered in every direction except toward the barn.
 
Nothing he did 
could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe. 
"Why don't they follow me?" he exclaimed. 
"Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?" 
He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. 
"If only I were a goose, then I could save them", he said out loud.

Then he had an idea. 
He went into the barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms 
as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. 
He then released it.
 
His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn, 
and one by one the other geese followed it to safety. 
He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes 
earlier replayed in his mind: 
"If only I were a goose, then I could save them!”

Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. 
"Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!" 
Suddenly it all made sense. 
That is what God had done.

We were like the geese - blind, lost, and perishing. 
God had His Son to become like us so He could show us the way and save us. 
That was the meaning of Christmas, he realized. 
As the winds and blinding snow died down, 
his soul became quiet and he pondered this wonderful thought.
 
Suddenly he understood what Christmas was all about, why Christ had come. 
Years of doubt and disbelief vanished like the passing storm. 
He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer: 
"Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!"

ACTION:
Aren’t you glad 
that the Lord thinks you are important enough to lead you to safety?
He became like you so that you could relate to Him.
He went to the cross so that you could be led from the storms of life 
to the safety of His presence.
What a Savior!
Nobody but Jesus could make that happen for you.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for providing safety for me. Thank You for 
sending Your Son, Jesus to become like me so that I would have the 
opportunity to become like Him. Help me to change my life habits to more 
closely resemble His characteristics. Forgive me for all of my failures 
and strengthen me with Your Holy Spirit, so that I can feel Your presence 
and resist temptations easier. Thank You Jesus for loving me and everyone 
else enough to go to the cross so that we could have an opportunity to 
receive God’s salvation!”