The astounding message of Christmas is the opening of God’s arms to our pain and brokenness, a pain and brokenness born of our rebellion, our sin, our selfishness – not something one would expect of God, after all god’s just don’t do that sort of thing, but then the God of the Bible is true God, the others just poor pretenders.
In Jesus God doesn’t show us an angry face, but a loving open, inviting face – the coming of Jesus was God loving us, as we are, in all our sinfulness and brokenness. It was and is God for us and for our salvation.
The question is are we ready to open ourselves, our hearts, our arms to his love. To do so requires being vulnerable, it requires the admittance of who we are (sinners cut off from God), of what we’ve done (sinned and fallen short of God’s glory), and our total inability to put things right ourselves.
The enemy loves to suggest this message is too good to be true, or it’s not worth the risk, but then from the beginning he has sought to twist man’s understanding of God and prevent him from knowing God.
In opening our hearts, in confessing our sin, in believing, we find salvation, healing, help and hope.
Have you opened your heart to the open arms of God? If not, what keeps you?
If you have, are you allowing the arms of his love to continue to heal and renew you for all your tomorrows?
The Word 4 Life 