A Truth That You Probably Already Thought Of...
The other night at our church our pastor was talking about a photo that he and his wife had given their son when he accepted Christ and was baptized. I won't be able to explain it like he did, but he described a picture of a Joseph as a carpenter and Jesus as a boy near by. Jesus was holding three nails in His hands and sun shining through a window. The sun cast a shadow on a wall that depicted a cross behind Jesus.
I got to thinkin' about that.
As a boy Jesus worked with wood and nails. As He grew He knew how hard a nail must be hit to penetrate the wood and then if He made something He knew the angle at which a nail must be driven. He became very comfortable with wood. The splinters. The roughness. The feel of the hammer and nails. His very father, well, the earthly one, taught Him to use wood and nails to make something useful... something with purpose.
It's interesting that Jesus wasn't a fisherman or a shepherd. Both were common jobs of the time. Both had purpose.
No, He was born in a feed box. Made of wood. Hammered with nails.
He was a man that worked with wood. And His hands hammered the nails.
He died on a cross. Of wood. His hands and feet hammered with nails.
His entire human life was embedded in His purpose and as He came in human form that purpose would be, literally, before Him. In the form of wood. And nails. And yet neither of the materials were unfamiliar to Him. He was at home with the wood and the nails.
Maybe you had put all of those together before. I hadn't.
He came at Christmas so that we could know the incredible gift of love.
He lived His life so that we could know the example of life lived in humility and purpose. And He never stopped it. He knew His fate.
He knew why His Father had sent Him and He lived among the very items that would take His life. He worked with them. He knew the way they felt, the way they worked and the way they could be used to build something worth while.
He lived among the very people that would take His life, and He never stopped it. He lived ...so that He could die ...so that we could live... and be worth something worth while.
I just wonder if my life is showing that I was worth all of that? Am I pointing others to Jesus so that He can be real in the lives of others the way that He is real to me?
Maybe you already thought of all of this... I was just thinkin'.
I got to thinkin' about that.
As a boy Jesus worked with wood and nails. As He grew He knew how hard a nail must be hit to penetrate the wood and then if He made something He knew the angle at which a nail must be driven. He became very comfortable with wood. The splinters. The roughness. The feel of the hammer and nails. His very father, well, the earthly one, taught Him to use wood and nails to make something useful... something with purpose.
It's interesting that Jesus wasn't a fisherman or a shepherd. Both were common jobs of the time. Both had purpose.
No, He was born in a feed box. Made of wood. Hammered with nails.
He was a man that worked with wood. And His hands hammered the nails.
He died on a cross. Of wood. His hands and feet hammered with nails.
His entire human life was embedded in His purpose and as He came in human form that purpose would be, literally, before Him. In the form of wood. And nails. And yet neither of the materials were unfamiliar to Him. He was at home with the wood and the nails.
Maybe you had put all of those together before. I hadn't.
He came at Christmas so that we could know the incredible gift of love.
He lived His life so that we could know the example of life lived in humility and purpose. And He never stopped it. He knew His fate.
He knew why His Father had sent Him and He lived among the very items that would take His life. He worked with them. He knew the way they felt, the way they worked and the way they could be used to build something worth while.
He lived among the very people that would take His life, and He never stopped it. He lived ...so that He could die ...so that we could live... and be worth something worth while.
I just wonder if my life is showing that I was worth all of that? Am I pointing others to Jesus so that He can be real in the lives of others the way that He is real to me?
Maybe you already thought of all of this... I was just thinkin'.
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