“They will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us."
~ Matthew 1:23
I fancy myself a fledgling,
amateur photographer. I love to shoot
things … with my digital camera, especially along the beach at sunrise. Today I saw something truly inspiring – an
army of small crabs marching straight forward, instead of sideways.
Although somewhat elusive, these soldier crabs are
occasionally found on sandy shores at low tide.
Their appearance is quite unlike crabs we typically see. They have a sky-blue dome about the size of a
nickel. Attached to this dome are long,
spindly, legs, used skillfully to raise up and move freely on sand.
After watching them for a while, I decided to start shooting
some photos. I removed the lens cover to
focus. That subtle movement was enough
for them to quickly bury themselves into the sand. Poof!
They literally disappeared before I could fire off a single shot.
I immediately had to learn more about these fascinating
creatures.
Sensing fear from either rising
tides or, in my case, from a potential predator, they burrow in a corkscrew
motion; digging down with the legs on one side of their bodies while the opposing
legs walk backwards. This creates a safe,
breathing cavity around themselves until danger subsides. At high tide they may be covered by as much as
6 feet of water.
Sensing my presence, they
vanished in seconds, leaving nothing behind but sandy mounds. I likely appeared too large and overpowering.
For me, it created a clear image
of what God does so graciously for us.
We are very much like those tiny soldier crabs. Our fallen nature causes us to feel far too insignificant
and much too sinful to converse with God the Almighty.
Neither did He alarm us or oppress
us by approaching our world wrapped in Heaven’s majestic and regal splendor. He chose to approach us in a way that made it
easier for us. He became a human being –
not a big, powerful and overwhelming human being, but a common, ordinary person
– and then lived among us.
Had He approached us in His
grandeur and brilliance we would have been overwhelmed, fearful,
uncertain. We’d have buried our heads
(and bodies) in the sand, just like soldier crabs.
Instead, our Sovereign Savior
redeemed us by joining us. The Son of
God became a person to allow us to become the children of God. What a great, gracious and generous God we
serve!
The Christmas miracle was not
just about a virgin giving birth. Christian
faith asserts that God is so great that He shows His magnificence in the gift
of humility and condescension – by becoming one of us in order to save
humankind and show God’s love.
Almighty God, help me understand the profound
mystery of Your holy Incarnation for our salvation. There is nothing so wonderful as when You, my
God, became flesh so that we might become like God; humbling yourself that we may
become mighty. Blessed are you, Immanuel,
for dwelling among us. Amen
