Faces on the Road to Bethlehem

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Today's Scripture: John 1:1-14

Some families have the custom of allowing their children to open one gift on Christmas Eve. The rest of the gifts under the tree must wait until Christmas morning, but the child can walk around the tree and choose one gift as a foretaste of what will come.

As the child scans the different sizes of the gifts and the brilliant Christmas paper, will the outside of the gift be the deciding factor? Size and beauty may win the day.

But this Christmas day we know that one gift is small and may go unnoticed. It was not purchased at Friendly Center. This gift was not a last minute selection. It was thought of long before the world began.

The Word became flesh and lived among us. God became a human being and offers us love we can see. But who would think to look for that gift in an animal stall out back? Who would look beneath the swaddling clothes to find a vulnerable baby as a sign of God’s love?

But that is how God chooses to give the gift of love. God’s gifts often come in unexpected places, in places where we might not think to look. They don’t usually come in the biggest or the brightest. God’s love often comes when we’re not looking and it can surprise us.

So on this Christmas look for God’s presence among you. For our lives are the meeting place of heaven and earth.

Merry Christmas!

Prayer: Emmanuel, come and be our guest this day. Thank you for the gift of your loving presence. Amen.

John McCall

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