A Beautiful Sacrifice

I’ve always loved everything about Christmas. I even like the annoying things about this month, like how busy the stores get and how the same 5 songs are always playing on the radio. Those songs you’ve heard a million times and you still don’t know the real lyrics to (like the second verse of Silent Night..?). Everyone, for the most part, is in a better mood – more loving, giving, and caring – and there’s chocolate-covered-everything.

As you get older, eventually you find out Santa is your parents, age 23 and your mom still makes you color coordinate for a Christmas card, and presents slowly but surely transition from barbies and Tamagotchi to vacuum cleaners and silverware.. and you can’t help but think what’s the deeper meaning of it all.

And that deeper meaning is truly incredible. And mind blowing. And so, so beautiful.

Our Healer, Savior, Prince of Peace “could have roared on top of a mountain, but he whispered in the voice of a baby. he could have ordered our obedience; but instead he calls for our hearts“(Take My Heart, Oh God Devotional by Sarah Young Dec. 23). Think about that for a minute. The God of this universe who created us and EVERYTHING we see, could’ve gotten our attention any other way, but instead he chose to give his one and only Son to save us. Can you think of a greater act of love? He gave us a choice, not a demand. We have the choice to follow Christ and become more like Him or we can choose to live apart from God and be men & women of this world. It only makes sense that our all powerful ever-loving Heavenly Father wants our TRUE, genuine love and obedience. What’s the point of it all if we don’t actively make a conscious decision to follow God? The only kind of love worth having is love that is freely given away. That’s what makes this such a beautiful love story.

My mom explained the “why” to me in a really powerful way – and it’s the perfect story for Christmas Day. WHY did God send Jesus to this earth? What was the point? Was there not an easier way? She said

And then it hit me. It all made complete, perfect sense. His sacrifice seemed bigger than ever to me at that moment. If I were trying to lead the birds to safety and show them in a way that wouldn’t scare them or confuse them, the only way would to be a bird. To become like them.