that, by an intentional design, I was in the opening chapters of Luke
just three days ago. The births of both Jesus and John the baptist
were foretold, John was born. The next night Jesus was born and the
shepherds were told by the angels of the Messiah's birth. A few
paragraphs later Jesus was twelve years old and sitting in the
temple. Following the reading plan that I've been on this whole year
in Africa meant that by last nights reading brought me to Jesus, a
full grown man, preaching and telling the story of "The Good
Samaritan." Suddenly I realized that by that point in the story Jesus
was somewhere around 30-33 years old, and I'd just jumped through all
that in three nights.
It seemed strange to me that while I had just been reading about the
birth of Jesus, by the third reading he was already older than I am
now! I took a minute to feel how long my life seems to be and
compared that to how short Jesus' life is in the Gospels. Then I
considered the concept that an eternal being would step into time and
submit to it for more years than I have been alive.
I guess it's just humbling to consider how He humbled Himself and
stepped into the confining restraint of time as well as a physical
body, and so many other limitations. He lived the life of an average
man and all that goes with it. The God of Heaven and Eternity stepped
into Earth and Time so that we might have a relationship with him, and
for no other reason.
Merry Christmas,
Jonny
