As Christmas approaches and gift buying is on our minds, I am once more reminded of the greatest gift ever given, and continue to be awed at the wonder of it all.
To think that God, our Creator, willingly sent Jesus, His Son who had no sin, to enter the world as a little baby, become human like us, take our sin and thereby give us the greatest gift ever given — an invitation to live eternally with Him in a wonderful place called heaven. This is the heart of Christmas.
The following delightful story tells how one individual finally realized what celebrating Christmas is really all about.
Wings of Faith Found on Snowy Christmas
Once upon a time, there was a man who looked upon Christmas as a lot of humbug. He wasn't a scrooge. He was a very kind and decent person, generous to his family, upright in all his dealings with other men. But, he didn't believe all that stuff about an incarnation which churches proclaim at Christmas. And, he was too honest to pretend that he did.
"I am truly sorry to distress you," he told his wife, who was a faithful churchgoer.
"But I simply cannot understand this claim that God became man. It doesn't make any sense to me."
On Christmas Eve, his wife and children went to church for the midnight service. He declined an invitation to accompany them. "I'd feel like a hypocrite," he explained.
"I'd much rather stay at home. But, I'll wait up for you."
Shortly after his family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window and watched the flurries getting heavier and heavier. "If we must have Christmas," he reflected, "It's nice to have a white one." He went back to his chair by the fireside and began to read his newspaper.
A few minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound. It was quickly followed by another, then another. He thought that someone must be throwing snowballs at the window.
When he went to the front door to investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled in the snow. They had been caught in the storm and in a desperate search for shelter had tried to fly through his window. "I can't let those poor creatures lie there and freeze," he thought,"but how can I help them?" Then, he remembered the barn where the children's pony was stabled. It would provide a warm shelter. He quickly put on his coat and galoshes and tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on the light. But, the birds didn't come in. "Food will bring them in," he thought. So he hurried back to the house for bread crumbs which he sprinkled on the snow to make a trail to the barn.
To his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs and continued to flop around helplessly in the snow. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms. They scattered in every direction... except into the warm, lighted barn. "If only I could be a bird myself for a few minutes, perhaps I could lead them to safety," he thought.
Just at that moment the church bells began to ring. He stood silently for awhile, listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas.
Then, he sank to his knees in the snow. "Now I understand," he whispered. Now I see why you had to do it."
— Author Unknown
"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
(2 Corinthians 5:21)
— beulah
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