I woke up early this morning. I couldn't fall back asleep, not because of Christmas jitters, but just because something inside me wouldn't let me fall back asleep. So I got up, thinking there was a reason I was awake. Surely, I was about to have some kind of huge breakthrough. It was still dark, and I thought that I would sit down and pen some delightfully thoughtful, profound Christmas mystery. I pictured it like some theatrical montage, me typing furiously at my computer until I had this fantastic new idea.

It didn’t happen that way.

Instead, what I got was something simple and revisited from years past. Love God, love others. Nothing new. Nothing profound. No mind-blowing revelation. But that's God.

The simple truth is that God wanted to be with us, so he did. He came down in the simplest form, a baby. He came to a simple, humble family. He came to shepherds. He came to people like you and me. He didn't come in the strength and power of the Almighty, although he could have. He didn't come in the glory and grandeur of the Most High, although he could have. He came in the normal and every day.

When Jesus walked this earth, he showed us what was most important: the relationships that we have. He could have had it all, but what he focused on was people. Not at all like what everyone expected. Strength and power, glory and grandeur wrapped up inside simple humility.

Love God, love others.

It's that simple. We don't need power. We don't need fame. We don't need control. We just need him and each other. That’s it. It's really that simple.

Love God.

Love others.