Day 7
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9
Have you ever heard anyone object to Christianity because “it doesn’t make sense”? Maybe they’ve read one of the following verses:
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 16:25
Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. Mark 10:43-44
Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. John 13:16
We are treated as imposters, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and not yet killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. 2 Corinthians 6:8-10
Okay, maybe Christianity doesn’t make sense. But perhaps it’s not supposed to. After all, Christmas doesn’t make sense! The coming of Christ, the bedrock of our faith, defies all our human logic and expectation. The glorious angelic host made the birth announcement to dirty, lowly shepherds instead of princes and kings. The true King of the world—God incarnate—was born in relative obscurity with no audience, no royal welcome, and no majesty. The perfect, holy son of God came to live a perfect life, die a substitutionary death, and save a world that only hated and rejected him.
At Christmas we see how God does things differently. He doesn’t do it the way we would — or think he should. He knows better than we do; his ways are higher, and they often don’t make sense to us. But we do understand his love. His compassion. His faithfulness. And Christmas is our opportunity to stop and consider his goodness even while we don’t understand his ways.
Catch on our Christmas Devotional series here.