On Christmas Eve, 1909, a young Japanese seminary student decided to change his part of the world. He moved into a small house in the worst section of Kobe, Japan. He decided that he would practice what he preached. He thought people would believe his Christian preaching if he would identify with their suffering. So it was that Toyohiko Kagawa began a life-long effort to alleviate the suffering of others.
Isn't it appropriate that he made that move on Christmas Eve? For someone else made a similar decision once. "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:18 NIV).
Just as Toyohiko Kagawa chose to move into humble surroundings to identify with people, God decided to move into our world, in the form of a baby boy born in Bethlehem, to alleviate our suffering. Christ came and sacrificed His life to make our lives better.
