We are a few days into 2019 and are probably beginning to struggle with those lofty resolutions we made just a few days ago!! However, it is also the Last Day of Christmas, (being the 12th Day according to that beautiful and cheering folk-song), and I am still meditating on what it took for God to become man.
As usual, my literary hero, C.S. Lewis, came to my rescue. In the timeless classic, Mere Christianity, he writes:The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a foetus inside a Woman’s body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.
That last sentence strikes home! If hypothetically, God were to ask me if I would become a crab to save my city or even my family, how would I respond? The absurdity of the request does not even begin to compare to the degree of condescension that it took for the Second Person in the Trinity to become a mere man. To leave the glory of heaven, and enter the world in a shelter for smelly animals……to bear treachery, false accusations and ingratitude from those He came to redeem…..to die a humiliating death reserved for the most violent offenders.
All in obedience to His loving Father……no wonder God places such a huge priority on obedience from all His children. https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-obedience-20-powerful-scriptures-quotes/.We have the perfect and ultimate example from His First-Born, our Redeemer Jesus, and we the adopted children are expected to be His followers not just in name, but in obedience as well.
During this blessed season, may we utilize all the graces and help available to us to make a conscious and deliberate decision to become obedient to our Father just like the First-Born that we adore and worship. Amen.
Hilltop Thoughts, Valley Strengths 