O Come, Let Us Adore Him

“O come, let us adore Him...” (O Come, All Ye Faithful)

Why do I adore Jesus Christ? So many reasons.

I adore imagining trailing behind Him for an eternity before we ever left the eternal courts - watching Him, adoring Him already, completely in awe of His already infinite capacity for obedience.

I adore that Father chose Jesus as the Savior of the world because He trusted He would carry out the plan - the only plan - which could save ALL the rest of His fallen children. Revelation 12:11 says we fought the dragon before this life with the blood of the Lamb - blood that didn’t yet run through His veins! And by the word of our testimony. Not only did Father trust this perfect Son - WE trusted Him. We had never seen him disobey - and we trusted Him to fulfill our Father’s will and prepare and complete the rescue with His perfect life and sacrifice. I adore that Father trusted Him - and that we did, too.

I adore that He brought light into a dark world, peace into a chaotic world, gratitude into a greedy world, purity into a polluted world, clarity into a confusing world, charity into a selfish world.

I adore that He performed the last and great sacrifice - that He offered Himself as the Lamb to pay for every single thing that has gone wrong - or ever will - through the history of this fallen world. I adore that He withstood all of it as a Man, and borrowed His Godhood only to not die of it, in order to complete it. I adore that He entered the prisons of death and hell as one of us - almost under cover - and stormed the gates and broke them open from the inside - setting every captive free who will follow Him out.

I adore Him as He changes the world by changing hearts and minds one at a time. This isn't always efficient, but He honors free will too much to ever, EVER force. I adore that He never ever forces; He only invites - “Come” - and I adore the invitation is never rescinded. Ever.

I adore Him as He keeps His promises. I adore Him because He is the Master of the atypical response. I adore Him because He is helping me with my shabby little fixer-upper of a life, and He isn't even daunted by the never-ending projects involved. I adore His generosity and patience, giving so very many second chances, and in a life that resembles Groundhog Day in its monotonous repetition of the same mistakes, I adore that He gives genuine approbation with my ridiculously feeble efforts to improve.

I adore Him because He can take my meager efforts which resemble loaves and fishes and always make them enough - and sometimes even make them a feast. I adore Him because when my pain is so great I am sure I will die, He carries it, even though He has already carried it all alone in Gethsemane.

He is my best friend. My gift to Him is to try to copy Him, so people will think of HIM when they think of me. Did I mention fixer upper? Yeah, we still have a LONG way to go. I’m so truly sorry I don’t better resemble Him. But He has already gone the distance for me to even give me the chance, and did I mention this too? I absolutely adore Him for it.

Merry, Merry Christmas. Jesus was born for each individual in the human family. It's not the first time, nor the last, that I want to sing about this best of news: “O come, let us adore Him, Christ - the Lord.”