When Jesus entered our world, it wasn’t the peaceful, Christmas card scene we imagine. He came to a people weary from being crushed by 1,500 years of military oppression. They desperately longed for the promised Messiah to rescue them, but their hope was slipping away. Sadly, when Jesus did arrive, they rejected Him because they wanted a king to overthrow Rome, not a servant preaching forgiveness. They wanted political freedom, not heart transformation. Their attitude exposes our own: we ask God to fix our circumstances, while refusing to surrender to His control. But Jesus didn’t come to improve our lifestyle—He came to redeem us from sin and reign as our Lord. Are you resisting the true Savior because you prefer a “savior” of your own making?

Dying to Live
No doubt, many people saw Jesus hanging on the cross and thought, “What a waste! He could have done so much more good if He hadn’t died.” But Jesus compared Himself to a kernel of wheat, which will never become more than a single seed unless it falls into the ground and dies. Only by dying can it spring to life and produce many more seeds. As His followers, we have been called to die to our own life just as Jesus did. Until we die, we will never begin to truly live!
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