VOICE OF TRUTH FOR TODAY
It’s Complicated
It was Christmas when we pulled into the parking lot of a beautiful inn in Sugarcreek, Ohio. Then I saw it—an incredible sunset stretching across the sky. We pulled over to take a picture. It looked like a gift.
That week, I found myself thinking about another gift—the familiar story of Jesus’ birth. We often picture the Christmas story beautifully packaged and tied with a perfect bow. But when you really think about it… It’s complicated.
A pregnant virgin. A long journey. No comfortable place to give birth. A cold, smelly stable. Jealous kings threatened by a baby.
And ultimately, that baby growing into a man who would experience an unimaginably brutal death.
For my sins. For yours.
Nothing about the journey was simple. Yet what Jesus accomplished for us is beautifully simple. He died. He rose again. And through Him, eternal life became a gift we could never earn but are freely invited to receive.
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, ESV).
Perhaps your own life feels complicated right now. Maybe circumstances don’t resemble the neatly wrapped story you imagined. Remember: God has always worked through complicated stories. The invitation of Jesus remains beautifully uncomplicated.
Believe. Receive. Follow Him. Open the Gospel of John. Read Romans. Ask God to help you understand who Jesus is.
His gift is waiting.
Grace cannot be earned. Salvation cannot be achieved through our own perfection. It is received through faith in the One who came for us.
Life may be complicated. But the gift of Jesus is beautifully, miraculously simple.
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Excerpt from Voice of Truth Magazine
“Following the Son” by Michele Hicks Hughes