He Came!

"He came! He came! He came!"

Oh how many Christmas mornings I remember that excitement, surprises under the tree and all around the living room. Dressed in our Christmas gowns and pajamas, Mom and Dad snapped pictures and no doubt sat back and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Christmas morning had arrived, and they'd pulled it together once again. I can't remember one Christmas morning when Santa disappointed the Stone children, not even that Christmas when I was too sick to play with my new toys.

Awake before the crack of dawn and what a thrill it was to discover he had come, just as we expected he would. The milk and the cookies we left for him, anticipating his arrival, were gone. Our stockings were full to overflowing, and with a house full of children, our living room looked something like a toy store.

As wonderful as those unforgettable Christmas mornings are, my mind today is transfixed on someone else who came. Unlike Santa, there weren't any cookies and milk, no adorned tree nor sweet little note to welcome His arrival. The news wasn't reporting UFOs and other signs of His coming, and there wasn't even an elf on the shelf to greet him with a cheesy smile. Instead, at every house and inn, He was turned away and rejected.

But He came. He came anyway. He made his entrance into a world that was too caught up in their own agendas, with lives so busy with day-to-day distractions that they weren't even aware the Promise had arrived. There, in a stable, with witnesses of cattle and sheep, He came. The Word became Flesh. The Promise, the Prince of Peace, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Beautiful One came.

I have to wonder if I had been there that day or even the eight days later when He was taken to the temple amongst a crowd of people, would I have been so wrapped up in the details of my life that petty distractions would blind me from recognizing that the King had come? Or would I be like Simeon or Anna who were excitedly anticipating, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Messiah?

How I have been captivated by the Story this season. Distractions have worked desperately to steal my focus and win my attention. It feels like I've been hit from every angle and knocked on every side, but the Story has captivated my heart. There is no greater story, nothing that compares to the Gift of Jesus, a child who was born to become my sin, born to die a humiliating death so that I might have freedom and eternal life.

He came! He came! He came!

And He's coming again! He's coming again! He's coming again!

Oh that my heart and your heart will be excitedly anticipating and eagerly awaiting His return!