Verse: Luke 2:1-7
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Thoughts
This Christmas season I want you to remember this: there is no barrier too big for God.
You have probably heard these verses every year for your entire life. Maybe they've lost some of the meaning and punch. So let's try to remember how significant these veres are.
This is God becoming man because he loves you. This is the divine entering the human, the immortal taking on mortality, the perfect walking with the imperfect. The chasm between who God is and who we are is unfathomable and uncrossable.
In modern days we get portrayals of God-like characters in Avengers movies and we see them being fought and even beaten by humans. Those portrayals couldn't be any further from the truth. God operates on a different plane than we do. He is not just a higher order of us, he is a completely different Being. He is something totally other.
The barrier between perfect/sinless/immortal and broken/sinful/mortal is something we could never cross on our own. No human in history could ever "travel" to God's dwelling and talk to him without him first making the way. Go ahead. Try. It could never be done.
That barrier is final. It is permanent. We are humans - "dust" on the earth.
But it turns out that God CAN cross that barrier. It would cost him though. He would endure pain, fear, brokenness, and eventually death. What would drive him out of the perfection of heaven to suffer like that? There is only one answer.
Love for you and me.
There is no barrier too big for God. So whatever you are feeling lately, whether you feel far from God, or like you've let him down, or just broken and you aren't sure what to do with your life. You can call out to Jesus. There is literally nothing that can separate you from his love. He crossed the barrier once that fateful day 2000 years ago, so that we can cross it as often as we want now, and have perfect communion with him. Nothing can separate you. So don't let it. Reach out to Jesus this Christmas season and let him love you and fill your life.
Prayer
Thank you that you have done everything within your power to reach me. Thank you for how loved that makes me feel.