just an ordinary piece of furniture...

i love this time of the year. i love the lights, i love the trees, i love the carols, i love the nativity.

the nativity. we see it in so many different ways. we see it on church lawns and on CHRISTmas cards and on billboards and in church programs.

one of the fixtures in every nativity is a manger. a manger. would you zero in on the manger. and please don't think of it as a first century bassinet because it is a far cry from that. a manger was nothing more than a feed trough for cattle. just a crudely constructed piece of farm furniture - ordinary in every way.

if you think about it, the only reason why 21st century westerners are even familiar with the term "manger" is because in one little clip of scripture it says GOD's SON was laid in one. apart from that we wouldn't have a clue as to what a manger was.

but because GOD's SON was laid in a manger, look what happened to an ordinary piece of farm furniture. all of the sudden it has a new dignity. it's a household word. the ordinary becomes extraordinary . . . a feed trough for cattle becomes the cradle of a KING. that's quite a transformation. wouldn't you agree?

look at the manger, friends. it's a symbol of what can happen to an ordinary man or woman when CHRIST resides inside.

have a blessed merry CHRISTmas.

just a thought from the front porch...