Christmas music has been playing in our house from son rise to son set! We are blessed that our local christian radio station (WBGL) plays 24/7 Christmas music; I can turn it on in the morning and never worry about changing the disk or, more importantly, hearing a song, DJ, or advertisement that is inappropriate.
Yet honestly, I sometimes forget it is playing because of the chaos that comes from living with two young boys! Last night, as we are cleaning up toys, the song “How Many Kings” was playing. If you’ve never heard this song, take a moment to follow the link and listen. The final line in the chorus says “How many fathers gave up their son for me?”
Evan, with his ability to hear everything except his mother and father’s commands :), asked me what this line meant.
Well, son, what this means is that daddy would allow you to die to save someone else that was in trouble and facing death.
And with that statement the reality of God’s sacrifice smacked me right in the face. As I’m looking into the face of my precious six year old son I realized how deep God’s love runs for me. If you are a parent, imagine for a moment watching your child face a brutal death so that a criminal could have a chance at freedom. That is the reality of what Jesus did. We are all criminals, sinners, who have the opportunity to experience freedom because someone who was not at fault died in our place.
Don’t let that sacrifice be in vain. This Christmas, slow down long enough to think about what really happened when the manger became the cross. We are all so undeserving and yet God loves us so very much.
O Come, let us adore Him; O come, let us adore him; O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
Fireflies in the Night 