40 Days until Easter

40 Days until Easter (not including Sundays)

My heart is in need of reflection.  It’s in need of focus.

I’ve been a bit distracted by our move to Georgia and the continual angst of our world lately.  Between the changes a move brings on a family and the noxious atmosphere of society, the best way to describe my heart would be, “unsettled”. The strife among most people is overwhelming. No one can get along.  So, it’s time to quiet the noise, lay aside the social controversies, mum the political warfare and ask God to tune my heart.

Before I specifically aim my attention at the weeks leading to the crucifixion and resurrection of my Savior, I want to take a step back to look at a wider view of His sacrifice by starting with a manger in Bethlehem.  A few weeks ago we went to visit my nieces’ new puppy, Houston. He still had a few days before he could leave his mama, so we took a little trip with the cousins to the breeder’s farm (who also happen to be old church friends of ours).  The puppies were with their mama in a shelter similar to a stable. Unless you live on a farm, you probably don’t think much about the smell when you think about all the cute animals. But, one visit to a farm will quickly remind you that those cute animals poop and urinate without much thought.  In a stable, urine and dung are everywhere. And the stench is strong. The animals that roam about are covered in it and the ground that you walk on is covered in it, which pretty much means that if you are in a stable, you too are covered in it. We left our visit with Houston completely smitten with that sweet puppy and happy to have been able to catch up with old friends, but also completely filthy.  So why so much focus on the muck of a stable? Because that is where the manger was. Now I understand that the stable where Jesus was born may not have looked like the structure that I picture. I’ve read that it may have been a cave or lower room of a home where animals were kept. Nonetheless, it held the same function as a stable; it was a dwelling for animals.  Until you are standing in a stable, you don’t really grasp how lowly a stable is to give birth to a baby, much less, to give birth to a king. For most, you don’t step foot in the stable without a pair of mud boots and gloves. The incarnation of the Son of God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was born of a virgin in the muck on a stable floor. It’s vivid imagery of the world He came to save.  Why would He do that? Unimaginable, inexplicable love.

My soul trumped His place on high.  My sin. My shame. My muck. It has created a debt that I cannot pay.  So the King of Kings, the Alpha and Omega; the great I Am Who is more majestic than I can express with language, humbled Himself to be born in the muck of a stable.  He would grow to teach us how to love and how to give and how to serve; and then He’d pay my debt with His own blood. Because that is how much He loves me.

Here on earth, His journey to Jerusalem began in a manger in Bethlehem.  There could not have been a more humble beginning for my Savior to embark on His journey to His death-- for my salvation; so that I could know His love, His mercy, His grace and so that He might dwell in my heart.

“I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” -Galatians 2:20

I can’t help but imagine that brilliant night.  The night that we call Christmas. The tiny hands of that precious baby, the Prince of Peace, surely reached out to grasp the mire-covered hay around Him in the trough.  They’d be the same hands to reach out across a beam to take on the spikes for my mire-covered soul. Because that is how much He loves me.

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again.” - Matthew 20:18-19

Dear Lord,  Your love amazes me.  It shakes me to the core.  How can I ever express how thankful I am that You loved my soul enough to leave the glory of heaven to die a most ghoulish death for me.  I ask that you tune my heart to love like You. In the midst of the morass, I tend to get distracted by the stench rather than overcome with love and humility.  Where superficial love exists in me, replace it with Your love. Where selfishness and pride reside, take it away and make me humble. Overcome my heart, Lord.