Some thoughts on the birth of Jesus

I started my baby keepsake display series because my favorite time of the year is celebrating Jesus' birth.

I wonder what Mary kept as keepsakes? Don't you want to know or do you ever wonder? Did she keep some straw from the manger? The strips of cloth from swaddling him up nice and tight? Did she put them in her best clay jar and look at them periodically like we tend to do?

Luke 2:19 says she treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Now this is refering to all the happenings surrounding the birth of Jesus but I bet she had keepsakes. And one of the first things I am gonna do when I get to heaven, besides dance with abandon by Jesus' side, is ask to see what she saved.

I also wonder later in life, did she dig around the house and find those same baby cloths and compare them to the cloth strips that had been used to wrap his body in the tomb?  One set of strips once held the newborn savior, yet to save the world. The other set, could not hold the Risen Savior as He defeated death for all eternity for you and me.

Did she realize while on earth the enormity of the importance of both of those strips of cloth?

Have you? If your curious, read on.

Today in Church our Pastor was talking about the character of God and how He loves us.
He loved us enough to let us have free will, knowing that we might not choose Him. He was willing to have a Plan B for us. He sent His own son to take our place on the cross and bear our sins, in return we could have the free gift of salvation if we accept it from Christ.

Our pastor compared the difference in how we accept God's love is similar to the difference between snorkeling and scuba diving. Some of us choose to accept God's love by snorkeling. We float on the top of it. We feel it but we choose to let it sit on the surface of our heart and our hurts. It does not make it into the deep crevices of pain and shame. We are happy there. Nothing much changes but  its okay.

What's the difference with scuba diving? Deep total immersion. Scuba diving in God's love means letting God into the deepest crevices and the darkest hiding places of our hearts. The hidden parts that only we know exist. Guess what? God's knows about those hurts. He wants to heal them. He Loves You!! Unconditionally He loves YOU!! Snorkeling allows you to get a far away glimpse of the beauty God has for you but scuba diving,  you are in it, touching the beauty, feeling the beauty as it flows all around you. It heals you and makes each crevice seem not so deep maybe, or the hurts of the past, less painful as He fills up your view.

God's storerooms of love are bottomless like the depths of the oceans and He longs to share them with you. TRUST. Trust that his character is good and He is who he says he is. He is Love. And if you don't know how to trust, ask Him to help you. He will give you what is necessary to take those steps. But you need to take that first step.

And not just a dip in the wave with your toe will do.

Put on your wetsuit.

Now the flippers.

Clean the mask so you can see who you are swimming towards.

Put on the oxygen, because like the Bible, it breathes life into your lungs.

Now take the best risk of your life and



dive



Always being renewed,

If you have any questions about this post or would like to talk further about how you can take that step and ask Jesus into your life, please email me. I would love to hear from you.