Okay, I thought I was done with the His Beginning post, but I wasn’t. I decided to post the rest of that particular chapter from my book. His Beginning is Chapter 4 of the book I’ve written. If you haven’t read my other posts, Part 1 and 2, scroll down and read them first. For those of you who don’t know, I have written a book about finding God’s plan for your life. Hopefully, I’ll actually get a proposal written one of these days and see about getting it published. The book is called Woven : Recognizing the Threads of God’s Plan.
Surely, the birth of our Lord was where it began, but it wasn’t. God’s plan began long before He ever came to the earth in human form. During the latest Christmas season I gave a lot of thought to Jesus’ birth. Have you ever thought about how things would be different if Jesus really came as He deserved? What if royal trumpeters blew news of His arrival from the turrets of a grand castle? Jesus could have been wrapped in silk and laid atop fur blankets in an ornate hand carved cradle. He could have, He is the king of all kings, but He didn’t. Instead, Jesus was wrapped in whatever pieces of spare cloth Mary and Joseph were wearing and was laid in a feeding trough atop a bed of hay. His arrival was heralded but not by royal trumpeters on top of a castle. His news was spread by angels who presented it to lowly shepherds in fields with their sheep. Why?
Only God can answer for certain why he chose the specifics of Christ’s arrival, but I have some ideas. I think God chose a simple woman of no means to bear His son to show us Jesus came to save all of us, not just the wealthy. Being born into a simple family afforded Jesus the opportunity to learn a trade – carpentry. He was a blue-collar worker. He experienced the same things we do. Privilege and money did not pave His way. That makes Jesus easier to accept. He is one of us, only perfect. He understands what we go through on a day-to-day basis. God chose shepherds to hear the angels’ message instead of the high priests or politicians. Shepherds were smelly, they had been sleeping in the fields with the sheep, and they were poor. The first to hear of Jesus birth were not the most Godly but the most ordinary – the most like us.
This idea of Jesus coming for everyone goes along with the idea of God having a plan for everyone. Sometimes it’s easy to believe that God only chooses certain people to carry out His plan. We believe that if we weren’t called to greatness like Billy Graham or Mother Theresa then we weren’t called at all. I am here to tell you that is not true. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:6 NIV) God has a great plan for each of us. How great it is depends on us, whether or not we choose to follow His path or not. It is easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and think we don’t have the time or energy to find God’s plan for our lives. Or we can believe the myth that God doesn’t need us. He does need us and He will use us. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10 NIV) God is just waiting to bless your socks off. Won’t you let Him?
Carol
Woven copyright 2007 Carol Hatcher
