Merry Christmas!

It's been a good Christmas morning. We've exchanged gifts and everyone's back in bed, except me. I whipped up some blackberry pancakes and a pot of coffee. Umm...good stuff! Exchanging gifts is really cool. But the older I get the more I value relationships with family and friends. The greatest gifts are warm relationships. That's what this season is all about anyway...the relationships, not the gifts.

The birth of Jesus was the beginning of an eternal relationship. His grand entry was less than spectacular for God by human standards. He chose to be born to a couple teenagers running from the law. A common man born to a common family in very humble surroundings. We have more than our share of wealthy men around the world that aspire to be God in a political and economic sense. But only one God that was willing to be one of us.

Today I'm reminded of the baby Jesus. But every other day of the year, I see him for who he is now. He's not a baby anymore. Here's John's description of Jesus from the first chapter of Revelation:

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man,"dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. "

I'm quite certain that Jesus, the common man born in a manger, has the ability to deliver on His promises.

Merry Christmas!

David