John the beloved disciple said it, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we beheld His glory as the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus, the Word of God, a designation which we normally equate with the written scriptures, became a human being! Amazing! Ultimate intelligence, the treasure of all wisdom and knowledge…approachable, accessible, and personal.

Could it be that information, intelligence and God have always existed together? That is the logical conclusion of the assertion that “the Word was made flesh.” The Word is synonymous with language and communication. The Word is the sum-total of knowledge.

Even the cells of the human body are each a library of information. Where did that information come from? The creation is a massive deposit of information and communication. Nothing in what we call the universe could exist without intelligent design and supervision. As we advance into the age of AI (artificial intelligence) we must face the fact that our creation of robots with computer-based intelligence is merely a mirror image of what our own creator initiated when He created us.

Only stubborn denial and a rebellious refusal to acknowledge what is obvious could explain how individuals with high or average IQ can dismiss the existence of a super intelligent Creator. Humans simply want to be gods. They ruthlessly eliminate all competition, including their own designer in order to be free of all accountabilities. Don’t kid yourself, that’s exactly what we have done and still do.

Don’t tell me you are a sceptic or an atheist. I know you because I know myself. You and I act like adolescent children. But isn’t irrational rejection of those who gave us existence incredibly petty? Treating your parents with contempt is selfishness proclaiming a kind of immature independence. And it leads to Me-ism…a silly self-idolatry that kills what is real and objectively true.

The Word became flesh.
Jesus came into our world.
He was God incarnate in a human body.

He was the Communicator…the Word. He told us and showed us who God is and what He is like. He told us who we are and that we are valuable and deeply loved! As a result, we cannot claim that the Heavens are silent. We have been given all the information we need to come back to the Creator we have spurned or ignored.
We can no longer assert He is a self-focused tyrant. He came as a servant, a carpenter, a back country rabbi. There was nothing pretentious or egocentric about Him. He was beautifully humble. He was a giver not a taker. And we killed Him! We rejected His claims to be our King. We crucified Him. Why? Why would God in a human body permit such victimization? And why would He proclaim that if anyone has seen Him, he or she has seen God?
That is why Christmas is such a big deal!

Our Creator has contacted His creation. He came down. He became one of us so that we can return to our original destiny. He revealed that behind all the data of science, behind all the stuff of the material universe is intelligence and love. He invited us to come back to His Kingdom. He came down so we can come home. He opened the door to forgiveness at the cross with great self-sacrifice.

You and I exist because He does. We think because He does. Let’s each close the distance between our hearts and His this Christmas! Give Him your what’s left of your life. Intelligence demands it!

Socrates is credited with the statement, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” That is one of those pithy observations that proves more and more true the longer one lives.

In youth there’s often an attitude of “Who cares about examining my life, I just want to live it to the full! I don’t see any need to evaluate my choices because I don’t want to limit them. I want to enjoy everything, try everything and deny myself nothing pleasurable.” And then the price tags start piling up.

By the time a thinking person is middle aged, he or she understands self-analysis is strategically important. This is simply because pleasure is no longer the highest value. The parties, the exploration of drugs, alcohol, sex and other adrenalin laced adventures are no longer the measure of “the good life.” Examination has begun to make sense. A need for meaning, value and purpose has surfaced.

This is especially true for those who have become parents. The overriding question now has become: What values and principles do I want to pass on to my children? How do I provide guidance and wisdom that could help them avoid the pain of my bad choices? Suddenly, love for one’s progeny brings caution to former patterns of recklessness. With other lives at stake, I quite naturally find myself wanting to do what is right and good and model it.

And then comes the era of self-analysis…old age. This is all too often a time for regrets. “If only” and “I wish I had done things differently” become familiar territory. But it’s not possible to go back. I don’t know how old Socrates was when he uttered his famous line, but I would bet he was not in his youth. Thinking deeply and carefully about what is best and choosing accordingly is the product of experience. Avoiding pain has become not only important but a high priority.

Jesus greatly expanded the wisdom of Socrates. His sermon on the mount is a collection of ideas that have helped countless people examine their lives with good outcomes. If you haven’t read this famous piece of literature lately, you can find it in the first book in the New Testament of the bible. Matthew chapters 5,6, and 7 record a glimpse of the life we are designed to live forever…if we grasp its value.

This great discourse finishes like this:
“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came and the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash!”

So, examining where you build your life and what materials you use is essential to successful living. It really is that simple. The unexamined life is a “sand based” life. The storms always come, and the crash is inevitable. Rock solid living seems to make a lot more sense!