At first glance, there is nothing special about the tree.
Maybe you can see the shadows on the trunk, but you can't see what caused them.
You didn't hear the splash of the fish.
You didn't see the ripple in the water or the light hitting the water, so that a shadow was cast on the tree, making the tree almost shimmer.
A picture is just a picture.
It does not tell the whole story, though it does tell a story, even though that story is frozen in time.
Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus and if the story of Jesus, his miraculous birth, his ministry, his miracles, his death were limited to the words on a page, it would be an interesting story, a sad story, but an interesting one with things to learn and lessons to take away.
But the story of Jesus is no still picture.
It is not a moment stuck in time two thousand years ago.
Because Jesus lives.
He was born. He lived. He died and then he rose from the dead.
And he lives, still.
Such is the wondrous beauty of our faith. We are not left with pictures or words or stories.
What we have is a living God whose very breath is the breath of life.
What we are left with is a God whom we can have a personal relationship with, a God who listens, who responds, who watches, who weeps, who laughs, who lives forevermore.
Such is Christmas.
Maybe you can see the shadows on the trunk, but you can't see what caused them.
You didn't hear the splash of the fish.
You didn't see the ripple in the water or the light hitting the water, so that a shadow was cast on the tree, making the tree almost shimmer.
A picture is just a picture.
It does not tell the whole story, though it does tell a story, even though that story is frozen in time.
Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus and if the story of Jesus, his miraculous birth, his ministry, his miracles, his death were limited to the words on a page, it would be an interesting story, a sad story, but an interesting one with things to learn and lessons to take away.
But the story of Jesus is no still picture.
It is not a moment stuck in time two thousand years ago.
Because Jesus lives.
He was born. He lived. He died and then he rose from the dead.
And he lives, still.
Such is the wondrous beauty of our faith. We are not left with pictures or words or stories.
What we have is a living God whose very breath is the breath of life.
What we are left with is a God whom we can have a personal relationship with, a God who listens, who responds, who watches, who weeps, who laughs, who lives forevermore.
Such is Christmas.
Comments
Post a Comment