Christmas.

Well, I figured since I'm not going to be online on Christmas day, I'll go ahead and post today. Lately I have been completely convicted by so many people regarding the Christmas season and story. I have heard that story so many times that sometimes I feel as though I have become calloused to it. This is a sad truth to learn, because it is the most amazing story in all of history. The God of the universe coming down in the form of a baby just to grow up and die to save a wretched and despicable human race from eternal punishment. Yet too often I read/listen to the story, and my mind becomes foggy because I am hearing the same story for maybe the hundredth time (no exaggeration).

But I think God is bringing me back to my senses. He has put people in my life either directly or indirectly to show me how I should be reacting to the Christmas story. First of all, there's Matt Chandler and his family. I know I talk about them a lot, but I am just in awe of their faith amidst the storms of life. In the past few weeks Pastor Matt has been talking about the Christmas season and how in awe he is that God would do something so wonderful for him, and today I received his twitter update saying that his church service was almost unbearable because of how struck he was by God's grace and mercy. Um... Wow. How many times have I gone to Christmas Eve services and just yawned the whole time because we're singing the same songs we sing every year and listening to the same story over again?

Two other people that have struck me are John, a man who goes to my sister's church, and my dad. Both of these men are strong believers, and still get choked up whenever they read the Christmas story. I am so, so humbled by this. Even though I may be filled with emotion over the story and what God did, I don't remember the last time I cried because I thought about the birth of Jesus Christ.

I feel renewed. The faith of all three of these men has brought me to a new place of wonder with the Christmas story, and I am eternally grateful to God for that. He is so good and so gracious, and I long to praise him more and more because of His great love for all of His children.

Thank You Lord, for Your wonderful gift. May we who follow You never be the same again, but be permanently transformed by your sacrifice for us. We are so undeserving, yet You loved us enough to be "unjust."

Praise be to God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.