Wander…and Wonder

“I wonder as I wander…”

A traditional Appalachian ballad begins with those words. So simple, yet so poignant.

“I wonder as I wander out under the sky…”

Likewise, I’m inclined to wonder. Why did Jesus the Savior come to die for poor, ordinary (or ornery) people? Did you ever stop and really consider the wonder of it all? Do you ever think about how tiny and insignificant we appear against the backdrop of the universe? Or how arrogant and ungrateful we can be?

Those of us who’ve spent our Sundays sitting in church pews can parrot the Christmas story and plan of salvation. But when we really contemplate Christ coming to earth, we discover a mystifying, mind-boggling message.

Why would the Creator become the creature?

And why would the Sinless One become sin for us?

What great love motivated the King of the Universe to become a child?

And what made the Shepherd become the sacrificial lamb?

It seems so illogical, yet as we piece together the messages throughout Scripture, we discover the picture of a well-thought-out plan. Prophesied in the Old Testament, fulfilled in the New Testament, and still powerful today.

So what if we put aside our busyness and found time to wander under the sky…without a goal, without an agenda…just wander and WONDER.

Then we might gain a new perspective…a new appreciation for God’s incredible, unfathomable, fascinating plan to save us ornery sinners.

Reach for More:

Take some time to let your thoughts wander, and imagine Christ’s coming into the world. If you can’t wander out under the stars or walk in the woods, then watch this rendition of the carol by Harbour Shores Worship:

Or listen to Audrey Assad singing “I Wonder as I Wander” and imagine the Creator descending to enter the earth he created.

Scriptures for Reflection:

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (II Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8 ESV)

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
 what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4 ESV)

Father, let me never cease to be filled with wonder when I think of your great love for us. Let me never take for granted the marvelous, miraculous moment when Jesus the Savior entered our world to rescue us.