Thoughts on Today's Verse...
If we had been alive when Jesus worked in the carpentry shop in Nazareth or walked along the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum, we could have seen him and said, "There goes God." Our statement would have been correct. The incredible reality of Jesus is that he was God among us. Matthew calls him Immanuel, "God with us" (Matthew 1:23). In Colossians 1, Paul pours out every superlative he can use to describe Jesus' preeminence over everything and everyone. He is God with a human face. He is the ruler, the transcendent one, who reigns above all creation. Our universe exists and is held together by Jesus, which makes his coming to earth and being our Savior through his sacrifice breathtaking!
My Prayer...
Almighty God, I can't comprehend why you would love us so much. As Your people, we have rejected, spurned, ignored, blasphemed, and sought to place you on the periphery of our lives. Yet time and again, you are there to hear our cries and save us from ourselves. Forgive me, Father, for not reverencing you more. Forgive me for not recognizing the greatness of Jesus and the utter humility it took for him to sacrifice himself for me. Father, thank you! Thank you for being patient, sacrificial, and long-suffering. I praise you, dear Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.
