Christmastide teaches us that God uses the lowly, the unexpected, the otherwise unusable. Isaiah prophesied this long before Christ’s appearing: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1). From that dried out stump grew the root of Jesse, tall, strong, and fruitful (Isaiah 11:10). Christ is that sturdy tree, who now stands as a signal for the nations “and His resting place is glorious” (Isaiah 11:10).
As you stand beneath the shade of this 2,000 year growth, look down and remember the stump from which Christ came, dusty, dead and dying. If Christ grew out of that stub of wood rotting on the forest floor, what is to stop Him from growing out of you? Only see that you are not too sturdy for Him. He has always preferred the shepherd boy, the mumbling prophet, the tiny clan, the cousin who eats locusts. He has always preferred the widow’s mite, the donkey chariot, the little town, the virgin womb.
