Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas: The Meaning of the Incarnation

A Christmas Card from the early 1900s

I heard this story years ago and I share it with you today, because he shows the meaning of Christmas to those of us who follow Jesus Christ.  One year at Christmas there was home to which Santa delivered a train for Christmas.   On that Christmas morning this house looked like a disaster had struck.  Tossed across the floor were boxes and wrapping paper and bows, ribbons, and of course new toys.  In this particular house the most exciting toy was the train.  This boy loved racing the train round and round, as fast as it would go, but in the confusion, a discarded box got on the track, and the train derailed.

Bending down over the train, this young budding engineer kept trying to get it back on the tracks, but he couldn't get the wheels to seat properly.  Finally, his father realized what was happening.  “You know, you can’t do that standing up above it,” he said.  “You have to get down beside it.”  The father then dropped down on the carpet and lay beside the tracks and with his son by his side, proceeded to show him how to put the train back on the tracks.

That’s one way we can think about the incarnation, the coming of God, how God comes to us as a child.  The human race has derailed from sin.  We’ve all had a few boxes in our paths.  We need to be put back on the right track in life.  It just couldn’t be done from up above – God has to come down beside us in order to put us back on track.


May you have a blessed Christmas!

9 comments:

  1. Intersting "perspective." A good story for Christmas, for sure.

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  2. Thanks for this story, Sage - He put me back on track several years ago and my life has been so much better.

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  3. Merry Christmas, Sage! I enjoyed your story about how we tend to get off track and couldn't agree more that The Lord is Good! Blessings to you and your family!

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  4. I trust you and yours had a marvelous day.

    Cheers, my friend.

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  5. A lovely perspective. Not only did God come down to our level in the form of his Son, to get us back on track…but He also reassured the ancient promise that by staying on the track, through His grace, it would lead us back to Him and our eternal home. There has never been a better Christmas message or gift!

    Merry Christmas!

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  6. What a most beautiful retelling of this great story...one that I'm so happy you shared with us! Thanks so much!

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  7. Interesting story. Humankind needs a road map to travel back to the source of all sources.

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  8. What an awesome story :) hope you had a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

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