Wood: A Common Christmas Theme!

I was hovering somewhere between sleep and waking this morning after a very late night at work and I was thinking or rather I think that God was speaking. He gave me a thought about Jesus and His life. There were several common themes but the one I had never thought about or put together was wood. Jesus was born in a manger that would have most likely been made of wood. It was probably not the finest wood nor would it have been sanded down like furniture would have been. The manger was a watering trough for stable animals.

 Yet, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords spent His first days there.

His earthly father, Joseph, was a carpenter by trade. Since, Jesus was the first-born, He would have apprenticed His father in the carpentry trade. He would have worked with wood to cut it, sand it, and form into beautiful pieces of furniture for use among the villagers of Nazareth. Then, after Jesus' 3 years of ministry from the age of 30-33, he was forced to carry the cross made from wood down the Via Dolorosa to the hill of Golgotha. He didn't make it all the way due to the cruel beating that He was forced to endure. When He got to the top, they laid His arms against the cross bar and drove nails through His wrists and the tops of His feet. Not just any nails but spikes. The crosses were made from wood that was common to that particular part of the Roman world. Most likely, the cross was roughly hewn from olive trees. Although, there is a legend that it was made from the dogwood tree and that God made the dogwood to not grow very big from that point on. No Biblical basis for that, of course, but interesting, nonetheless. The wood of the cross would have been rough and full of splinters piercing His skin. Jesus Christ, Wonderful, Counselor, God-incarnate, left this earth the way He came in: surrounded by unsanded, splintery wood. Yet, while He walked the earth, he took that same wood and sanded it and polished it. The same way He does that with wood, He does it with us. Jesus takes us in our rough form that is full of splinters then He sands and polishes us into a beautiful piece of art.

Thank the Father in Heaven, who orchestrated this beautiful plan so that we might get to see Him there one day. From the manger to the cross, what a journey! What a life! What a wonderful legacy to those of us who believe! The journey didn't end there. Jesus Christ rose again on the 3rd day and that is what makes Him different. No other "god" has ever risen and been seen by more that 500 people after his death. May the God of peace richly bless you and your during this CHRISTmas season!

Vulnerability

Vulnerability: the capability of being wounded or hurt.

Many of us would not want to be called vulnerable.  That would be an insult to our pride!  We want to be strong and capable and protected from harm from either physical or emotional assault.  Why would anyone want to be vulnerable?  Who wants to be harmed?  We must allow ourselves to become vulnerable sometimes to let people get close to us.  There are no true connections if we are prideful.  We must trust that they will not hurt us!  That is not always the case and thus the saying, "You only hurt the ones you love."

Jesus knew from the get-go that He had to make Himself vulnerable.  Is there any other creature out there who is more vulnerable than a baby?  No!  A baby cannot feed itself or change its own diaper.  It cannot walk or talk.  Vulnerable!  Yet, Jesus humbled Himself to take off His crown and come as a baby.  Vulnerable!  How could He have protected Himself from His enemies?  He had to be protected!  God used Joseph to protect Him by telling him to take Mary and the baby to Egypt.  Mary protected Him as only a mother can.

When Jesus came to his final days, He made Himself vulnerable!  He allowed Himself to be beaten to within an inch of His life.  He allowed Himself to be mocked and scorned!  He allowed Himself to be stretched out and nailed to a cross.  Why?  So, that we could come close to Him!  Our sin separated us from God and Heaven.  We could not make ourselves vulnerable enough to be deemed worthy of Heaven or a relationship with God.  He had to make that way!  He had to allow His Son to become vulnerable so that we could draw close to Him despite our pride.

There are some who are still prideful and feel that they don't need saved.  There is nothing wrong with them.  They don't sin!  They are basically good people who try to do good to humanity.  How do you know that you have done enough or been good enough?  Is there some cosmic ticker that keeps track, adding and subtracting according to your deeds?  Why would it matter?  If there is no Heaven or Hell, why, then, would we be good?  We could just do whatever we want and treat each other like dirt and steal, lie, murder etc!  Sure, we might go to jail but in the long run?  There is just a hole in the ground where we reside until we return to dust.  Where is the hope in that?  How depressing to live that way!

We all feel the longing to be accepted, to be loved, to feel needed, to feel wanted!  That may be, to some people, simply the human condition.  But, I think that those longings are the deeply ingrained desires to have God in our lives.  In Christian speak, we have a God shaped hole that can never be filled, no matter how many ways we try.  We don't feel loved?  Then, we look for love in other humans.  We always end up heart broken!  We don't feel needed?  We fill up our schedule until we collapse from exhaustion!  We don't feel wanted?  We may turn to drugs, alcohol or other things to mask that pain!

This Christmas season, will you make yourself vulnerable?  Would allow Jesus to fill that hole that is in your heart?  Isaiah made it known that:
⁴ Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.

If you have already allowed Him into your life, are you too busy?  Are you flitting to this party and that?  Are you trying to find that perfect gift?  Give the gift of yourself to your family and give the gift of rest to yourself!  Allow the Holy Spirit to renew you and make the Christmas season that best that you have ever experienced!
 

A Common Theme

I was hovering somewhere between sleep and waking this morning after a very late night at work and I was thinking or rather I think that God was speaking. He gave me a thought about Jesus and His life. There were several common themes but the one I had never thought about or put together was wood. Jesus was born in a manger that would have most likely been made of wood. It was probably not the finest wood nor would it have been sanded down like furniture would have been. The manger was a watering trough for stable animals.

 Yet, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords spent His first days there.

His earthly father, Joseph, was a carpenter by trade. Since, Jesus was the first-born, He would have apprenticed His father in the carpentry trade. He would have worked with wood to cut it, sand it, and form into beautiful pieces of furniture for use among the villagers of Nazareth. Then, after Jesus' 3 years of ministry from the age of 30-33, he was forced to carry the cross made from wood down the Via Dolorosa to the hill of Golgotha. He didn't make it all the way due to the cruel beating that He was forced to endure. When He got to the top, they laid His arms against the cross bar and drove nails through His wrists and the tops of His feet. Not just any nails but spikes. The crosses were made from wood that was common to that particular part of the Roman world. Most likely, the cross was roughly hewn from olive trees. Although, there is a legend that it was made from the dogwood tree and that God made the dogwood to not grow very big from that point on. No Biblical basis for that, of course, but interesting, nonetheless. The wood of the cross would have been rough and full of splinters piercing His skin. Jesus Christ, Wonderful, Counselor, God-incarnate, left this earth the way He came in: surrounded by unsanded, splintery wood. Yet, while He walked the earth, he took that same wood and sanded it and polished it. The same way He does that with wood, He does it with us. Jesus takes us in our rough form that is full of splinters then He sands and polishes us into a beautiful piece of art.

Thank the Father in Heaven, who orchestrated this beautiful plan so that we might get to see Him there one day. From the manger to the cross, what a journey! What a life! What a wonderful legacy to those of us who believe! The journey didn't end there. Jesus Christ rose again on the 3rd day and that is what makes Him different. No other "god" has ever risen and been seen by more that 500 people after his death. May the God of peace richly bless you and your during this CHRISTmas season!

I wrote this several years ago but it is still one of my favorite pieces I have ever written!