Wednesday, December 07, 2005

an unexpected Christmas gift

Yesterday I picked up a Christmas present for my wife. (I'd rather not say what it is in case she happens to read my blog.) But it was neatly wrapped last night while she took a nap on the couch. I put a pretty little bow on it and placed it under the small apartment Christmas tree we have on top of our entertainment center. All was done while she slept. So, she goes to sleep... no present... she wakes up (we went to a most excellent band concert last night) to go... there's a present.
As she walked past the entertainment center, something on the center caught her eye. (I didn't say a word about it... just woke her up to go... in fact, I was hoping she wouldn't notice.) As she walked past, she stopped... and slowly backed up... picked it up and then got this look of excitement and wonder on her face that was pretty priceless.
She has to open the present before tomorrow (Santa's rules) and I'm excited to see what she'll say about what's inside.

But the thought that occured to me during this exchange was, "I wonder what the response was of those who happened to be in Bethlehem during Jesus' birth to the birth of this Messiah and Savior." See the shepherds and the wise men (if they were even there... the wise men that is) had an advantage. A whole host of angels shared with the shepherds the meaning of this child who was born in a barn.
Most folks didn't have the advantage of a heavenly message service. I wonder if they were filled with excitement and wonder as they beheld the Messiah born in a feed trough. Maybe we'll never know. But for each of us, we have the opportunity this season to be filled with wonder and amazement anew.

just a thought for the season...

JC