One Christmas Eve, a man was invited by his wife and child to go to the Christmas Eve service at their church. He refused to go saying, "I don't understand how a God who is supposed to be loving and kind can let mankind suffer so much. Why would He decide to become a man and be born as a baby in a manger, no less. There is no logic in such an idea and I just can't accept it." So his wife and child went to church without him.
While they were gone, a snow storm blew in. So the man put some more wood in the fireplace, pulled up his favorite chair, grabbed his newspaper, and sat down to enjoy a nice quite evening alone. Suddenly, he heard a thumping noise and rose to investigate. As he looked out his living room window into what was now a fierce blizzard, he saw a flock of birds flying into his window again and again, trying to get into the light and warmth of his house. Even though the man did not believe in God, he was a good and compassionate man and felt sorry for the birds. "What can I do to help them," he thought. "I know! I'll open the barn doors. Then, when they see the open barn, they'll fly right in" So he pulled on his coat and boots and trudged out to the barn to open the doors. When he opend the doors and turned on the light, he turned to watch the birds fly into his barn. But the birds just kept flying against his window trying to get in.
"How can I get them to come in?", he asked himself. "How can I get their attention and get them to fly in here. I know! I'll put out bird food all the way from the house to the barn, then they'll follow the trail right into the barn." So that's what he did. But still the birds just flew against the window trying to get into the warmth. It really didn't matter anyway, because the snow covered the seed almost as fast as he threw it down.
By now the man was becoming very anxious for the safety of the birds. "I have to help them. But how? They haven't noticed anything I've done so far. What can I do that will get their attention. I have it! This time I'll get in front of them and wave my arms and yell and chase them into the barn!" So that's what the man did. He went up to the window where they were and started to yell and wave his arms to drive them into the barn. But instead of driving them into the barn, he succeeded in driving them out into the storm because they were afraid of him.
The man was distraught that nothing he had tried had convinced the birds that the barn was the place they needed to be. He knew he had tried everything he could to get the birds into his barn but nothing had worked. "If only I could become a bird like they are. Then I could communicate so they would understand me and follow me into the barn and be safe." he thought.
Suddenly, he realized. That's exactly what Jesus did for us! He came as a baby and grew up into a man so He could show us how to find safety in His 'barn'. He died so that we might live, and He rose again so that we could live eternally with Him. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
I don't know what happened to the birds that night, but I do know that the man went back inside and knelt by his chair by the fire and gave his heart and life to Jesus. And when his wife and child came home that night, they had the happiest Christmas ever because they all had the real Truth of Christmas living in their hearts.
