Wrapped in plain brown paper…

 Wrapped in plain brown paper…

The tree was filled with a variety of ornaments…handmade, store-bought, big, little, shiny and bright, wooden, plastic, glass, colorful…one was wrapped in brown paper tied with string, simple yet compelling…what was the mystery hidden in the package….

The event was an ornament exchange, bring one, take one…numbers were called throughout the brunch, devotional and cookie exchange…until all of the ornaments were chosen…no stealing of another’s choice..you choose the one ornament you want…

My choice was the simple brown paper wrapped ornament…

Upon unwrapping, I found a simple red shiny ornament…but so much more…

This season of Christmas is filled with the bright and shiny, the lights, the gifting, the gifts, the running to and fro, the gatherings, the giving, the programs, the remembering, the laughter and tears….it is wrapped in bright paper and bows or gift bagged with tissue…

We forget the brown paper and string , the simple…the mystery…

As I unwrapped my gift, it reminded me what  the season is about… the glorious gift wrapped simply in swaddling cloths…born in a simple stable, sleeping in a simple manger…parented by a simple carpenter and young woman…visited by simple shepherds, simple surroundings….

We expect a king to be wrapped in finery, gold, living in palaces, surround by glitter and pomp, ornatenss abounding, a throne with marble…no simplicity….

We forget at times, this simple event, this tiny baby came for the simple people as well as the kings and all of those in between…He came for all…to be their all…

He came wrapped simply, but He was/is anything but simple…shepherds acknowledged Him…the Magi acknowledged Him…angels acknowledged Him, God acknowledged Him, crowds acknowledged Him…all the world will acknowledged Him…

He came for a specific purpose…to die and live again…to forgive, to redeem…all the world…those who would seek and find him…and simply put their trust In Him…

He came, wrapped simply, to bring believers to a glorious place, a kingly heaven, to live in the Light for eternity….filled with more splendor than all the pretty Christmas ornaments…manmade palaces of wonder…a King, a long way from the simple manger…

My ornament, wrapped in brown paper, tied with string…was a symbol of this season for me…. A stark reminder of the true meaning of Christmas…Jesus, in all of his simplicity, in all His greatness…His great love wrapped in simple faith…

Thank YOU…

 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 

And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 

And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, 

as it had been told them. for my eyes have seen your salvation  that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles,and for glory to your people Israel.” 

And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 

And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Luke.2.7,Luke.2.15,Luke.2.16,Luke.2.17,Luke.2.18,Luke.2.20,Luke.2.30,Luke.2.31,Luke.2.32,Luke.2.34,Luke.2.38

 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,and they shall call his name Immanuel”(which means, God with us). Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? 

For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;for from you shall come a rulerwho will shepherd my people Israel.’” 

And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. 

Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Matt.1.21,Matt.1.22,Matt.1.23,Matt.2.1,Matt.2.2,Matt.2.6,Matt.2.11

 The unfolding of your words gives light;it imparts understanding to the simple.

Ps.119.130

 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. 

God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of 1John.4.9,1John.4.10,1John.4.13,1John.4.14,1John.4.15,1John.4.16,1John.5.1