You came.

You were born in poverty and lived with your parents as aliens in a foreign land—escaping danger to preserve Your young life.

You endured it all—the misunderstanding of those who thought you were illegitimate.
The mocking. The disregard. The rejection.

You understand my every need and desire as a person.
You made a way for me to overcome and connect.
You modeled how to live in freedom and hope regardless of what happens… or doesn’t happen.

You laughed and cried.
You saw how the perfection of Your creation was marred, lost, and broken.
You lived among us and witnessed the effect of sin’s destruction in our lives.
You cried out, heartbroken, for the pain and loss, that you saw Your people stuck in.
And, You made a way.
You provided an answer.

You came… for us.

You came to overcome and destroy the works of the devil.
You came as a man, living on the earth—horizontally—eye-to-eye with us, Your creation, Your people.
You came personally instead of just relating to us from Your Throne in heaven.

You came to establish relationship and offer us the intimacy of the Garden again.
You walked with us again in the cool of the day.
…And the heat of the day.
And in the storms of the sea… the storms of the night…

You came in the flesh as a man, giving up all of Your divine attributes.
And yet, You remained fully God because that’s who you are.
You couldn’t not be God—because that’s who You are—but You put Your divinity on the altar,
and showed us how to live in relationship with Your Father in heaven.
You showed us the power of humility.
As a man relying on the power of Your Father, You saved, healed and delivered us—Your kids.

Thanks for coming, LORD!
Thanks for showing us how to live and love well on this earth.

May we seek You always and enjoy the intimacy and security of this relationship with You—Immanuel,
God with us—all the days of our lives.