Jesus, why did You choose this life?

I want to know.

Jesus, why did You choose this life? I want to know.

I’m sure it wasn’t curiosity to try out living in a cursed world. You couldn’t have been antsy to attend a funeral or be betrayed by a friend.

What were your favorite things about this life? I want to know.

Was one of them feeling the summer sun warm your face? What song did your mother sing you to sleep with? Do you prefer sweet or salty? Was it weird to feel growing pains, to look at this flesh stretched around your forearm and know it came from dust and would return to dust? A part of mortality wrapped around immortality. A jar of clay hiding treasure from those without eyes to see.

What was it like to leave the Father for a childhood where you must be taught how to speak? The Word from the beginning learning anew what a sentence is.

What about having eternal light pulsing from Your fingertips in a world that has come to love darkness? How comfortable we got in the darkness. It coddled our insecurities and self-righteousness. It wrapped a blanket of pity around us and let us dress up as gods in our little kingdoms of shadows. We got so acclimated to groping in the darkness that when the Light shone, we squinted in the glare and cried that this couldn’t be right. It wasn’t what we wanted it to be. We loved the darkness rather than the light.

…All while accusing God of being a fraud, of being unreasonable and unloving. He’s forgotten about us, don’t you think? Maybe He’s not even there anymore... He didn’t keep His promises.

Jesus, how hard was it to be told You were a blasphemer born out of a scandal? I want to know.

I wonder how humanity is so perverted that we looked Love in the eyes and saw no majesty or beauty that we should desire Him. Or how grace was given to a few — those with eyes to see — to crawl out of their darkened corners, inching toward the light falling across a swaddled baby’s forehead. A few souls brave enough to ask, “Who is this baby boy? How do we worship Him? We have followed the light and it led us to Him.”

Jesus, teach me to kneel in the dirt beside that manger and meditate on the mystery. You chose to endure a life like mine. You came to overcome where I have failed. May I never lose the wonder that when I could not get up to reach You,

God
came
down.

– Sarah

P.S. This song hits differently at Christmas. God is not untouchable. 😭

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Verses (ESV)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:1,4–5,14

“and this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” – John 3:19–21

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Photo by Al Elmes on Unsplash

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