We just moved through the feel-good season of Christmas where we look with awe on baby Jesus, cute and cuddly in swaddling clothes, surrounded by His loving parents.
But what most moderns miss is that even in His birth, His death was foretold.
The manger was most likely hewn from stone, as was His tomb. And while the wise men’s gifts were costly and appropriate, they not only spoke of His kingship, they also included myrrh which was used for embalming the dead.
Jesus came to live so that He could die.
Both His life and his death are models for my own.
Every day of ministry was a day of self-denial-a pouring out of life onto and into the ones He came to serve.
And if anyone-if ANY. ONE.-could have lifted Himself above those who presented their brokenness like offerings at His feet, He certainly could. Not only was He without sin, He was God Himself in the flesh.
But look how gently Jesus welcomed the lost and lonely. See the compassion of the Good Shepherd for His confused sheep. Notice the love and kindness as He gathered the children around Him.
THIS is my example.
I am most certainly not above my Master.
I am called to love and serve as He did-not in a condescending way that says, “I am helping you because I am better than you.” But in a way that says, “I am helping you because I AM you.”
I have nothing I did not receive. I have nothing to give except from the bounty of my Lord.
My heart is just as broken as the next heart.
We all need His touch.
thelifeididntchoose 