One Christmas Eve, a farmer and his wife discussed going to the Christmas Eve worship service. The wife insisted that they go, but the husband was not interested. It was cold, and the snow was blowing. He would rather stay at home. And so, the wife went off to church alone while the farmer watched out the window.
He noticed the small song birds struggling against the wind and cold and he felt sorry for them. He knew his barn was warm and safe and so he decided to encourage the birds to stay there. He opened the barn doors and went back inside to watch. But the birds were too frightened to enter the barn. He laid out bird seed that led into the barn but still the birds would not enter. He went outside and talked to the birds and flapped his arms and walked into the barn, but they would not follow. He said to himself, “If only I could become a bird and encourage them to safety.” Then he heard the church bell ring and he realized that is exactly what God did in sending His son, God in the flesh, to let us know the way into his kingdom. He quickly changed his clothes and joined his wife as they welcomed Emmanuel, God with Us.