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And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”   --Exodus 33:14 If you’re feeling tired and worn out today, I want to ask you something. What’s causing your fatigue? Have you tried to determine the cause? Clearly, the demands of our daily lives take a toll at times. Even our Christian service can make us weary. The Lord himself even felt tired at times. It’s true! In John chapter 4 the Scripture says that after meeting the needs of people and performing miracles, Jesus was physically exhausted. Isn’t that amazing? In his humanity, even God himself felt the weariness of fatigue. So it’s not a sin to be fatigued. But it is a sin to not take the necessary measures to regain balance when things get out of control. We were designed to require physical, spiritual, and emotional balance in our lives. But beyond the physical demands of service, sometimes human beings are weakened by sin. It is costly to live in chronic disobedience before God. It weakens you spiritually, but carrying the burden of guilt and discouragement also weakens you physically. So if you’re weary today, let me ask you to do something. Be honest with yourself and take a look at what’s causing your fatigue. Do you simply need rest and relaxation? Or is your spirit weary with the burden of unconfessed sin? Call out to him. The Lord is able to restore you and he will give you rest. In his humanity, even God felt the weariness of fatigue. The Word Made Flesh by Dr. Paul Chappell “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” John 1:14–16 Though we cannot with our limited understanding fully grasp how Jesus could be at the same time both fully human and still fully God, we know that it is true because the Bible teaches it. It was essential for our salvation that a sinless substitute be offered in our place, and Jesus as the Word made flesh lived the perfect human life that allowed Him to atone for our sins rather than His own. The measure of God’s love for us is seen in the enormous sacrifice that Jesus made in order to become human. Paul wrote of Christ, “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7–8). Jesus is worthy of all the praise and honor and glory of Heaven—yet He willingly laid all that aside in order to be our Saviour. The baby boy that Mary held in her arms that first Christmas was the fullness of God’s grace and the offer of salvation. It is important that we remember what Jesus gave up in order to become human as we think of Christmas, for it places in perspective our need for salvation, and it is the key to our being thankful for all that God has done for us. Today’s Growth Principle:  We cannot truly be like Jesus unless we are willing to follow His example of love and sacrifice for others.