In the days leading up to Christmas, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite poems and/or writings that have helped prepare my heart for ALL that is Christmas. I hope and pray that these will serve you as they have served me in preparing my heart for the arrival of the King.
First up… HAVE YOU SEEN HIM?
God enters the world as a baby.
The stable stinks like all stables do. The stench of urine, dung, and sheep reeks pungently in the air. The ground is hard, the hay is scarce. Cobwebs cling to the ceiling and a mouse scurries across the dirt floor. A more lowly place of birth could not exist…
She looks into the face of the baby. Her son. Her Lord. His Majesty. At this point in human history, the human being who best understands who God is and what he is doing is a teenage girl in a smelly stable…
Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter…
This baby had overlooked the universe. These rags keeping him warm were the robes of eternity. His golden throne room had been abandoned in favor of a dirty sheep pen…
Have you seen him? Have you caught a glimpse of His Majesty?
JESUS.
The Galilean who spoke with such thunderous authority and loved with such childlike humility. The One who claimed to be older than time and greater than death.
Jesus – Have you seen Him?
Those who first did were never the same.
“My Lord and my God!” cried Thomas.
“I have seen the Lord,” exclaimed Mary Magdalene.
“We have seen His Glory,” declared John.
But Peter said it best.
“We were eyewitnesses of His Majesty.”
His Majesty. The emperor of Judah. The soaring eagle of eternity. All the splendor of heaven revealed in a human body.
For a period ever so brief, the doors to the throne room were open and God came near.
His Majesty was seen. Heaven touched the earth and, as a result, earth can know heaven.
One warning. Something happens to a person who has witnessed His Majesty.
He becomes addicted.
One glimpse of the King and you are consumed by a desire to see more of Him and say more about Him. Once you have seen His face you will forever long to see it again.
Those who missed His Majesty’s arrival that night missed it not because of evil acts or malice; no, they missed it because they simply weren’t looking.
My prayer for you is that you would catch a glimpse of His Majesty.
Have you seen Him… Jesus… have you seen Him?
Written by Max Lucado - God Came Near