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Sunday, December 26, 2010

Romancing Christmas

Unwrapping the Gift of Christmas, is my grandson Luke.

We have romanced Christmas with our western culture.
We think of it with beautiful Carols, the Nativity Scene and gaily wrapped presents.

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
                though you are small among the clans of Judah,
                          out of you will come for me one who will be 
                     ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old,
                         from ancient times." (Micah 5:2)


It is no accident that the man chosen to be Jesus father on earth, Joseph,  was "of the house and lineage of David"
(Luke 2:4) and that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.


 "Joseph went to Bethlehem to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born."
(Luke 2:5-6)

I cannot imagine the young Mary walking all that way from
Nazareth to Bethlehem while heavily pregnant.
It was a three to four day trip, and as a woman I can empathise with her. I understand how she gave birth, after that long and tedious journey. How difficult!
We are not told she rode on a donkey??
We are not told her age?
But this was her first baby, and there were no luxuries.
No doctors or nurses to assist with the birth.
No pretty clothes or crib.
Only drudgery and hardship.

How different for us who worship Him, the King of Glory.
We don't suffer to celebrate our Savours birth.

We eat to bursting.
We relax in the comforts of our homes.
We are entertained by lovely Christmas Carols.
We romance the birth of Christ. 

Do we fully understand? Do we fully appreciate???

God's son was born in hardship.

We need to contemplate on these things..


11 comments:

  1. I think you're right, our understanding is often overly affected by our circumstances.

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  2. Hello Crystal, Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment, yes I agree we are very blessed today when it comes to childbirth and travel but in truth this man, or at the time, baby, came into the world to save it from pain and suffering and is this not exactly what has transpired? Yes there is still suffering in the world and pain in abundance but we have hope of everlasting life and even in our darkest hour we can look to this tiny baby and take courage. How grateful I am to this little baby who came to show me how much God the father loves and cares for me, no one else did but Jesus did. Thank you Lord.

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  3. I think Christmas - while we understand it - we don't really understand it the whole picture - not yet anyway.

    Can you believe we have a white Chritmas here in GA - three inches of snow - first time since 1888. He's a a short sleeve shirt above and I am under a ton of blankets.

    Just stopping by to say hello, Merry Christmas, and thank you for your prayers.

    sandie

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  4. Dear Crystal Mary,

    I was thinking something similar yesterday as we watched "The Nativity." I made the comment how strange that God decided to come in a very "messy" situation--childbirth itself is messy, but in addition there is the lowly, smelly manger, poverty, the shepherds, surrounding political unrest and annihilation of hundreds of Jewish boy babies, the exodus to Egypt...the messiness of being human, a helpless little baby...the cross.

    Sometimes we think our lives too messy to invite Him in. But He has proven Himself in the hardship and the dirt--He thrives in spite of it, and gives us the grace to do the same. You are so right about our romancing God's plan of salvation--until we see in truth we can't appreciate the awesomeness of our God, of our Jesus.

    Thank you for leading us there, and for your beautiful pictures. Blessings in this new year to you and your family!

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  5. Thank you for sharing this post! God's Blessings to you and your family! Hope you had a very Blessed Christmas!!!

    Lon

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  6. None of us is capable of understanding such hardship and suffering as His, but we must not forget what He came to give us through His pain. It is this that we celebrate with unspeakable joy.

    Thank you for praying for Sarah.

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  7. I am so glad Jesus Christ was born.
    That He loved the world so much that he gave up Heaven for a time, and came. There was nothing about his birth that favoured the elite of this world. God looked with favour on the lowly.There was nothing easy....which teaches, anything worthwhile comes at a price.

    Would that we be humble, that we include everyone in everything we are and do...looking on the heart and not the outward appearance..
    And that we persevere without complaint.
    God Bless all.

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  8. Wish you & your family a Merry Christmas.
    Wonderful post.

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  9. There is still no room for Him in the inn.

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  10. Well now, I don't know... maybe He wasn't born in hardship...not in the way we think about it anyway. The Christ's mother had a very unique relationship with the angels - they were there with her. And maybe there not being enough room in the inn was a blessing too - she was taken to a place that was warm and quiet and private. Can't you just imagine how noisy the full inn must have been. The earth surrounded her - the earth her Son had created; they were the walls of Christ's first dwelling, not something made by human hands. And animals...pure creatures that had no sin within them were there too and in fact gave their place of feeding to be Incarnate God's first crib.
    Just another way to look at the birth of the Christ... :)
    Blessings to you dear, Crystal Mary,
    Ann

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  11. I appreciate your visit and your thoughts.

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