Jesus took a Common Name and Made It Holy

He lived among us. He donned the costliest of robes: a human body. He made a throne out of a manger and a royal court out of some cows. He took a common name – Jesus – and made it holy. He took common people and made them the same. He could have lived over us or away from us. But He didn’t. He lived among us.

He became a friend of the sinner and brother of the poor. He touched their sores and felt their tears, and paid for their mistakes. He entered a tomb and came out and pledged that we’d do the same. And to us all, and to all the frightened Freds of the world, He shared the same message. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me… I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3, NKJV).

And how do we respond?

Some pretend He doesn’t exist. They occupy themselves with a study of the piano and ask no questions about the Maestro.

Others hear Him, but don’t believe Him. It’s not easy to believe that God would go so far to take us home.

But then, a few decide to give it a try. They venture out of their corners and peek up through the opening. Each day they look toward the sky. They, like Simeon, “wait for” and “look forward to” the day Christ comes (2 Peter 3:11). They know there is more to life than the belly of a piano, and they want to be ready when Christ comes.

[from When Christ Comes by Max Lucado]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.