God Came Down

I love listening to Christmas music for the entire month of December.  One of my favourite songs has a line that says, “…and God came down at Christmastime.”  It’s so easy to forget God – the God who spoke the heavens and the earth into being - came down as a helpless baby, dependent on the hands of humans He created.

It begs the question, why would God come to earth as a baby?  Or even more basic, is it true?

I heard a story recently about a man who had the same question.  His wife was a Christ follower, but her husband couldn’t believe the story about God, Jesus and the resurrection.  It was Christmastime and his wife was going to church on Christmas Eve.  She invited her husband but he declined, saying he would feel like a hypocrite if he went to church because he didn’t believe the story.

So the husband found himself alone in the house.  He heard a loud bang outside his living room window and he discovered two birds had flown into the window.  He went outside to have a better look at the birds and noticed that they were injured and not doing well.  The husband knew if he could get them in the barn where the warmth from the other animals were, they would mend quickly on their own.

He tried everything to get them to move toward the barn but the more he tried, the more flustered the birds became.  The husband knew the birds thought him to be big and scary and no matter what he would try, they would not trust him.  If only he could become like them – a bird – then he could lead them to safety.  Just then, he heard the bells from the church ringing and the husband fell to his knees, realizing that was the reason that “God came down at Christmastime”.

Even as I write, I’m verklempt as I think about the depth to which God went so that we, his creation, would trust him.  I hope you take a moment this Christmastime to reflect on why we celebrate and are filled with awe at the magnitude of what occurred so long ago when God came down at Christmastime.