“You may go if you must, but not me! The church is rubbish. Christmas is pure sentimentality…….”

The man was an agnostic. And though his wife and children pleaded with him to join them for services on Christmas Eve, he would not. “I don’t need Christmas” he would say. “It’s for children not for me.”

It began to snow. The man now, at home alone, peered out the window at white swirls dancing across his lawn. He settled down with the daily paper, hoping that his wife and children would soon be home. And then, ‘Thump…..’ on the window pane above the sofa. The man went to the door. He cracked it open to see a little ball of feathers – a barn swallow- sitting in a lump beneath the window. Apparently it crashed into the pane wanting to escape the blowing snow that now threatened to become the first storm of winter.

The man, who was not much given to sentimentality, felt nevertheless drawn to the bird. It must have a family he thought, among the many swallows that nested in the tool shed. It must have gotten lost. Perhaps it felt panic as the sky lowered and the snow began to fall.

“If only I could point it to the shed” he thought to himself. “ There the little fellow would find shelter against the storm”. He made a gesture with his hand, but he knew it would be useless. He picked the bird up and set it on the path to the shed. But it only sat there. Running to the kitchen, the man brought bread crumbs and laid them out in front of the bird thinking to lure it toward the shed.

But this, too, had no effect. “I’ll never make it understand” he thought to himself. “It speaks another language. The little thing is confused – it misunderstands my intentions.” And then he thought, “I’d have to become a bird myself and show it the way……”

Just then, above the wind, he heard a church bell ring. It reminded him suddenly of the season – it was Christmas. And in a flash he understood that Christmas was necessary after all. “How else might God let his creatures know His intentions? How else might he lead them to shelter? It required becoming one of us….”

God has become one of us. And he has entrusted us with the same message – to become a genuine part of people and cultures around the world. How else will they ever know?

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

CHALLENGE: Are you listening and following after Him?

My book and study guide “Developing a Secret History with God” will inspire you on your journey to hear His voice that you may follow after Him.

Book available on Amazon/ Barnes&Noble/ Walmart/Lulu/ itunes/ Kindle/ Nook/http wwwclfrance.com/ W.H. Smith UK/or a bookstore near you.

Languages: English/ French