Merry Christmas to You!

Word of the Father, Now in Flesh Appearing

Couldn’t you just spend all night wrapping your mind around that line?

The Word of the Father—now in flesh appearing.

Not a sentiment.
Not a metaphor.
Not a mood.

A Person.

God did not send a concept. He sent His Son.
The eternal Word stepped into time, took on skin and bone, and lay in a feeding trough so God could be with man.

And then that same Word walked toward a cross so man could be with God.

It is stunning.
It should stop us in our tracks every year—and somehow still surprise us.

God With Us… and Then God For Us

Jesus came in a manger so God could dwell with humanity.
Jesus went to a cross so humanity could dwell with God.

This is not a seasonal story.
It is the axis of all history.

And yet, every December, we feel the pull to let lesser things satisfy us—or disappoint us.

A gift.
A meal.
A moment.
A guest.

Or the lack of one.

Leave the Gap

Here is the quiet, holy invitation of Christmas:

Let there be a gap between what your soul needed and what the world provided.

Don’t rush to close it.
Don’t numb it.
Don’t decorate it.
Don’t stuff it with purchases, performances, or perfectly curated traditions.

Resist the urge to be fulfilled by what cannot fulfill you.
Resist the urge to be crushed by what did not show up.

And yes—resist the urge to be overly proud of what you prepared, provided, or pulled off this year.

None of it compares to our glorious Savior.

Refuse to Fill It With Stuff

Not so you become miserable or disappointed with what earth lacks.

But so you become hopeful and grateful for what Heaven never lacks.

Because Christmas is not about what we bring to the table.

It is about what God brought down to us.

The Great Exchange

God with us in flesh for a moment in time,
so we might be with Him for all time.

Jesus with us by His Spirit,
so He may live in us—always.

This is not nostalgia.
This is not ritual.

This is redemption.

The Best Gift

Jesus is not one gift among many.
He is the gift that reorders all others.

Let Him be.

Let Him be the joy that outlasts the season.
Let Him be the peace no table can provide.
Let Him be the satisfaction no tradition can sustain.

O Come, Let Us Adore Him

Not casually.
Not sentimentally.
Not alongside everything else.

But like we adore nothing else on earth.

Without reservation.
Without hesitation.
With fullness and faithfulness.
With a joy, gratitude, and longing that belongs nowhere else—and on no one else.

For He alone is worthy.

And He has already come near.