Yesterday, I finished my third to last term of university. Scary times. Sometime tomorrow (probably around midnight, as I will put it off for as long as possible) I will attempt to pack a month's worth of stuff into a suitcase to lug home on the train. And I am very much looking forward to it. Woo!
This term I have conducted my research for my final year project (dear God, let me have some significant results to analyse please...), and written two, actually very interesting essays, among other things. I still don't really have a life plan, and over the holidays I have a portfolio to look forward to that I probably should've started already. And that, is my life in a nutshell.
But, alas, it's Christmas! My bank account has taken a bit of a beating this week as I bought everyone's presents. Walking through town on a Saturday is something that I have vowed never to do again until the end of January. There are pretty lights, mince pies, and mulled wine wherever I seem to go.
Whilst this is great fun, it is also important to remember the reason we celebrate at all. The reason why we make time for our family, and give gifts and eat too much.
This reason is something as simple as a baby. A tiny, helpless little baby.
This baby was born to an unmarried woman, which, at the time, was a pretty scandalous start in life. He was born in a stable, in the middle of a load of animals, and put to sleep in a bed of hay. This baby was seemingly nothing special.
And yet, people came from miles to visit this child. Rich, wise men, and poor shepherd boys fell to their knees and gave him what they had. Their most prized possessions. This baby was predicted years in advance by prophets, as a saviour and a king. How could something so tiny and helpless possibly be something so grand?
This is how God works. He takes the big and unimaginable, and uses the simplest things, so simple we often miss them. He works in unexpected ways - I'm pretty sure the people didn't expect their saviour to come wrapped in blankets! He reaches out to all, the weak, the strong, the rich, the poor. No life is too small for him. No gift of faith, given up to him, too worthless.
This baby was not just any baby. He was Jesus. He was God - the great "I am" - entering this world just as you or I. And that is what makes this story so mind-blowing. He came, as a baby, to suffer, to be tortured, to be crucified. All so that we could be saved. So that we could be washed clean of all the mess and the sin that we've got ourselves into. So that we could know Him. If that isn't love, then I don't know what is.
That tiny baby. The saviour of the world, squirming inside his blankets. That is why #jesusiskindofabigdeal
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