The Gift...

The other day I was driving and listening to some Christmas carols...because they are on every flippin' station! It's kind of like when the President is on TV. Anyway, I was listening to the song Hark The Herald, Angels Sing and I began to really listen. You know...the type of listening where you quit just humming along and you actually focus on the meaning of the words of the song. And the second and third verse hit me like a ton of bricks. This is now one of my new favorite Christmas carols. Here's those two verses:

Christ, by highest heaven adored,Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold him come,offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;hail, the incarnate deity,
pleased as Man with to dwell,Jesus, our Emmanuel!
Hark! the herald angels sing,Glory to the newborn King.

Hail, the heaven-born Prince of peace!Hail the Son of righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,Glory to the newborn King.

THAT is what Christmas is all about. Christmas is about a God who was willing to step out of heaven and be "veiled in flesh." As John 1:14 says in The Message, "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood." Light and life to ALL he brings. He was born that man no more may die. That's the gift of Christmas. Incredible.