Let me tell you an old story.
Jeremy and Josh are neighbors.
One day, Josh and his wife had to go to Europe for one week. So Josh told Jeremy, “While we’re away, can you drop by our house once in awhile just to check on our grandmother and our cat?”
“Sure!” Jeremy said.
But after a few days, tragedy struck. When Josh called up from Europe and asked, “Jeremy, how’s the cat?” Jeremy said, “Cat is dead.”
“What?” Josh almost screamed. He was totally shocked. And he said, “Jeremy, that was too shocking for me. Don’t go direct to the point. Don’t say it straight. You could have beaten around the bush. You could have told me a story, like… ‘The cat went up the roof of the house. And you tried to call him down. But he kept up running on top of the roof of the house. Until one roof tile got loose, and the cat fell down and he landed right on the street where a car hit him…”
“Okay,” Jeremy said.
“So, how’s grandma?” Josh asked.
Jeremy said, “Uh… Grandma went up on the roof of the house…”
In a few days, we celebrate Christmas. And there’s so much “beating around the bush” about Christmas. Christmas is now about Jingle bells and Santa and sweet ham and Quezo de Bola and Noche Buena. There’s so much Fluff. If you remove all the flulf, and go directly to the point, what is Christmas?
It is this…
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Do You Want To Become A Worm?
When I was a kid, I remember playing in our backyard. And I saw a worm. I put it on my hand. All of a sudden, I felt God speak to my heart. I felt God tell me, “Bo, can I make you a worm?”
Boy, did God have my attention! “Excuse me Lord, but no thank you. Even if I have an extra-large nose and even if all my classmates call me tutubi (dragonfly), I’m very happy to be a human boy.”
God repeated His message to me. “Bo, can you be a worm so that you can tell the worms how much you love them? Because if you won’t become a worm, you wouldn’t be able to speak worm language. And they wouldn’t be able to understand you…”
That was when I realized God was talking about Christmas. Christmas is about God became man so that we’ll understand Him when He tells us, “I love you.”
Disrupting God’s Schedule
Many years ago, I went up a mountain to rescue 8 orphans from starvation. I brought them home with me and I lived with them in a house for an entire year.
I was very busy as a preacher and writer and leader. But the moment I decided to live with them, my whole world changed. I had to sacrifice everything. Believe me, I had to disrupt my preferences and schedule and itinerary–just to be with them. To eat breakfast with them. To play with them on the floor. To read them bedtime stories. To carry the smallest girl in my arms and tuck her to bed.
I did that because I loved them. Love pushed me to sacrifice my comfort so I could give them comfort.
On the first Christmas day, God sacrificed everything, disrupted His schedule and itinerary so He could live with us. He disrobed His Divinity, stepped away from His Throne, and became a helpless infant in a dirty manger. Love pushed Him to sacrifice His comfort so that he could give us comfort.
Why?
For God so loved the world that He gave His only son…
Merry Christmas, my dear friend.
Thank you for being part of my life.
My life is so beautiful because of you.
May your dreams come true,
Bo Sanchez
PS. This Christmas, may God’s Love vanquish your heart more completely. Have a beautiful Christmas! Please greet your family for me. I embrace them and pray for each of your loved ones.
