The night before Jesus

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." John 1: 1-5

I love today, sometimes even more than Christmas Day itself. Mainly because, until a few years ago, Christmas day marked new clothes, toys, food, family and a couple of basketball games. Now don't get me wrong, we always read the Christmas story before opening gifts, but in complete transparency, once the wrapping paper started flying and the stockings came down, that was it for me. But, the reason I love Christmas Eve so much is that I can really take some time (I know, who has time around Christmas?) to meditate on exactly happened on this day and tomorrow, on why we do what we do, and the reality of Jesus.

Mediation and prayer, have become two of my favorite things. Which for someone as scatter-brained as me, is a little ironic. I love any time I get to spend in prayer, because it restores reality in a lot of ways. I think of God, try to wrap my brain around who He is, how loving He is, how powerful He is, how Holy He is (try this sometime, but beware it always ends with your mind blown). In light of God, I also remember who I am, who the Bible tells me I am, a creature subject to God's wrath, an insignificant dot on a dot of a planet in the midst of one galaxy within hundreds of thousands of galaxies. Some of you might be thinking why in the world would you do this more than once?! Well, hang with me, we're getting to the good part. After my reality has been renewed (i.e. God's greatness, holiness, splendor... my insignificance, sinfulness, unworthiness) I then begin to think of Jesus. Beautiful, wonderful Jesus, my Savior, the ransom for my soul!

You see before Christ's birth over 2000 years ago, God's people had not heard a peep out of God for 400 years!! Not one prophet, not one angel, nothing, zip, zilch, nada! I wonder what they must have been feeling... despair, hopelessness, grief. But then God (who had this plan from the beginning by the way) did something crazy. I mean off His rocker, nuts. God, the infinite Almighty God, whose name is Power and Majesty, stepped into time and space, wrapped himself in human skin, and CAME TO US, in the form of a baby. WHAT!!!!?? I can't believe this story get's ho-hummed every year, do we not get how absolutely crazy that is!!

GOD puts on skin, comes as a baby to grow up and die so that I, an undeserving nothing might know Him.

I mean seriously guys, is there a crazier story than that!? How unbelievable must God's love for us be that He would do something like that?! How amazing that God would seek us out and give us Him literally "in the flesh"! An Almighty God, that we could hear, see, touch. (That beats the heck out of an iPhone!!!) Even as I am sitting here, I can't type enough excamation marks to describe this event! It's the miracle of miracles, the love of love's and the GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD. Thank you, thank you, thank you, God for Jesus. Thank you for your unending, and unexplainable love. I give everything I am to you this Christmas. In Jesus name, the name of peace, joy, and limitless power. Amen