He Chose (The Ultimate Christmas Love Story)

He came in flesh, bone and tendon. Gasping His first breath as tiny hands unfurled and the wetness of birth was wiped from His tender skin. He came vulnerable to set the stage of His life.
He didn't have to. He chose to. God chose to stoop down from on high...to multiply from cells in the secret place, to emerge from labour pains, to cloak Himself in flesh, sit cross-legged among men in the dusty streets, to look eye-to-eye with the vulnerable ones. He chose to love the unlovely, to strengthen the not-so-strong, to heal the castaways... and He chose to live and die, bruised and torn, among the vulnerable...so we could see Him, know Him, choose Him as our own. And His death and resurrection would mark His ultimate choosing of you and me, tearing of the flesh He was born into for the ultimate tearing of the veil that no longer separated us from the Holy of Holies. Inviting us in with full access. Preparing the way to a life beyond the vulnerable. Rolling the carpet into His throneroom where my cloak of common-place is exchanged for His robe of righteousness. My vulnerability is exchanged for His spirit, His heart, His freedom, His fullness of joy, His gift of life everlasting. As I trace my fingers over the bruises and scars of my life, He invites me to also trace His...calloused feet, bruised side, lacerated temple, nail pierced hands. I trace over them all until I find myself lingering and pulled in by the heart of it all. The thrumming of His love found in the warmth of His heart...just for me. I fail and fall. He sees and saves. He meets me in the dust...in flesh and bone...in the darkness of night...in the humanness of birth...in the hay of a rugged barn. He meets me there in the knowing. He fills the empty spaces with more than enough. He heals my wounds with understanding...because He bares them with me. His coming, God incarnate, tethers me to this love story where I've been sought...where I've been bought...at a price. The Christmas babe coos in the night; calling my name; drawing my heart. Beginning this love story where His choosing of flesh is the ultimate choosing of me. His birth in lowly places lifts me to the heights of the heavenly realm. Because He chose.

(see picture at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/98938523039964420/)