Holy.

Do you feel the wonder of the vast, starry sky spread out above the stable that night two thousand years ago? All of heaven intently focused on this ramshackle outbuilding, watching as generations-old prophecies took on flesh and breathed his first human breath?

Holy.

For those of us who aren’t the promised Messiah, holy looks a whole lot different.

For me, my growing up years and even young adulthood wholly lacked the holiness of God. I wasn’t whole, and I searched for something or someone to make me feel as though I was. That worked out great, by the way.

Holy. More like hole-y. Empty and exhausted from choice after terrible choice.

But God, who uses the weak things of this world to show just how totally dependent we are on his grace, replaced my shame with his righteousness. He took my brokenness and made me whole. This same baby grew up into a living sacrifice and went willingly to the cross to make a way for broken people like me and you to stand loved and forgiven before a holy God.

This is Christmas.

The gift of eternal life. The holy strategy that is bringing about the complete and utter defeat of Satan. The already but not-yet world we step into each and every day..the battle won even as the war rages around us.

Holy.

The God who counts each hair on our heads and has a voice like thundering waters. The One whose name is Faithful and True. The one who will destroy the wicked so thoroughly that we will look for them and not be able to find them. The one who establishes his throne forever and ever.

Holy.

It is terrifying to me that people still refuse to acknowledge him. They celebrate Santa and commercialism, electric lights and empty calories. They say “Happy Holidays” and reject the holy mystery of God with us. If they do not repent, they will be the ones we look for and cannot find. Holiness and darkness will not coexist. Not the best bumper sticker, but true nonetheless.

Holy.

A God that is patient with us; who desires that none would perish and that all would be saved. Who would give his life for those he calls his own; those who come in true repentance and faith.

Our holiness, even those of us who do follow him, is deeply flawed on our best days. We are not great, but thankfully, God is.

“Come, follow me.”

Will you come and be a part of the greatest story ever told?

Holy.

Angela