Biblical Reality #1

I grew up not believing in Jesus or the whole Christian thing. I would go to church twice a year with my family to hear about either His birth or death. I knew the manger scene like the back of my hand (even though I didn't care for it at all). Baby Jesus, the three wise-men, and all the pretty lambs was as much a reality to me as the porcelain figurine set that depicted them.

It wasn't until I was 19 years old when, because of depression, I decided to show up to a friend's small group. While there, because it was Christmas time, the group wanted to talk about the birth of Jesus. My eyes rolled because I really didn't care. But this time, it was explained to me in a different way.

Mark Dodd, one of the first Christian guys I had ever had a relationship with, said something like this, "I just think it's really cool how He came into the world. We expect a god to come down with bright light and angels all around him. I think those porcelain figurine sets are bogus. God decided to come into the world in one of the hardest ways possibles. They were in a barn with no doctors. There was probably blood everywhere. Mary didn't have anything pain reducing drugs to make it more tolerable. It's not like they had a clean towel to wrap Him in, nor did they have baby food. It was probably a horrific experience for Joseph, Mary, and the baby. God wants us to know that he feels our pain and experiencing something like that gives him more credit."

Hearing that made my jaw drop and my mind open. I had never heard of it that way before! Suddenly the Bible became interesting to me. It wasn't a book of fairy tales! It was a book of truth. I started reading and couldn't put it down! I became fascinated with every word it had to offer.

In a later post, I want to write about the possibility of Noah's Ark and Jonah and the Whale. It's really crazy stuff and to this day, it blows my mind to read the reality of the bible.

That my friends, its Biblical Reality.