It's called God Came Near written by Max Lucado and published in 1987 by Multnomah Press.
I've received permission from Max Lucado's people to share on my blog about this book and how it's touched me so I'll be doing that for the next few blog posts.
In the first chapter, titled The Arrival, on page 23 is a passage that struck me as so beautiful and so moving I had to share. As a mother, knowing what it feels like in the seconds, minutes, hours after bringing my children into the world, I remember well the awe but it's hard to imagine what it might have been like to give birth to God. Max Lucado puts it so beautifully:
Wide awake is Mary. My, how young she looks! Her head rests on the soft leather of Joseph's saddle. The pain has been eclipsed by wonder. She looks into the face of the baby. Her son. Her Lord. His Majesty. At this point in history, the human being who best understands who God is and what he is doing is a teenage girl in a smelly stable. She can't take her eyes off of him. Somehow Mary knows she is holding God. So this is he. She remembers the words of the angel. "His kingdom will never end."
He looks like anything but a king. His face is prunish and red. His cry, though strong and healthy, is still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. And he is absolutely dependant upon Mary for his well-being.
Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter.
She touches the face of the infant-God. How long was your journey!
God Came Near by Max Lucado
Copyright 1987 Published by Multnomah Press
Used by permission
Can you imagine? Can you for even one moment try to put yourself into the place of Mary and try to grasp what it must have been like to give birth to the creator of the universe? WOW!
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