Truth On A Pillow

I went to the store to buy one particular item.
I was thinking ahead to when we decorate for Christmas in a little over a week.
I am not one to jump over Thanksgiving or decorate early.
However, with everyone coming home, I wanted to make sure we are ready.

I wanted to get red pipe cleaners.
I knew that I will need them to hang the Christmas stockings on the bridge railing.
I went to the store with the rhyming name.
The store where you can find everything you need as accents for your home.

I like to meander down the aisles.
I like to see the fall things being moved towards the front where they will be on clearance.
I like to see the Christmas decorations displayed.
I took my time as I noticed all the sights around me.

I found the pipe cleaners.
No matter how quickly I find what I am looking for, I still want to peruse the aisles.
I was surprised at the vast amount of Christmas decorations I saw there.
I never saw so many ornaments for the tree.

There was literally an ornament for everyone.
There were Disney characters, super heroes, and movie characters.
There were characters from children’s TV shows, but I had no idea who they were.
I saw children pointing to this one and that as they asked their mothers to buy them.

I saw Santa, and elves, and reindeer all around.
The children in the store were mesmerized with one thing after another.
As I walked around, I heard Christian music being played.
I heard employees telling customers to have a blessed day.

As I walked down a main aisle to get to the cash register, I saw the pillow.
It was a muted color.
It was on display with things of the same color palette.
None of that mattered.

It was the words on the pillow that caught my eye.
Simple words that made me smile.
True love was born in a stable.
In the midst of the secular, I read Truth.

It was appropriate that the pillow was a muted color.
There was no need for it to be showy.
It did not have to catch my eye in a flashy way.
The words were enough.

All around the pillow were things that pointed to the One that Christmas is all about.
Unashamedly, Jesus is proclaimed.
Some may miss Him.
Some will see.

Some may rush by.
Others will pause.
The ones who will pause, will probably think.
What do the words on that pillow mean?

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. (Hebrews 1:1,2)

Imagine what it must have been like?
A world filled with things that enticed and distracted.
A world that looked to the powerful for answers and redemption from their enemies.
God turned that world on its head.

God sent His Son, Jesus, to be born of a woman.
God wrapped Himself up in human flesh.
Muted, unobtrusive, humble yet magnificent.
The world’s offerings could not compare.

True love was born in a stable.

Can you imagine?
I did not buy the pillow.
Seeing the words and pondering that truth was enough.
The things of the world look gaudy next to such simplicity.

The contrast was quite obvious.
All of those cute ornaments will be in style this year and out of style the next.
That is the thing about the world’s offerings: they change with public opinion.
Truth stands; truth never goes out of style.

Horizontal tastes are fine.
As believers in the Lord Jesus, we must have a vertical perspective.
We are to be in the world but not of the world. (1 John 2:15)
God reveals Himself all around us, if we only open our eyes and our ears to Him.