Stairway to Heaven

Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran. He came to a certain place and camped for the night since the sun had set. He took one of the stones there, set it under his head and lay down to sleep. And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground and it reached all the way to the sky; angels of God were going up and going down on it.
Then God was right before him, saying, “I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I’m giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they’ll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I’ll stay with you, I’ll protect you wherever you go, and I’ll bring you back to this very ground. I’ll stick with you until I’ve done everything I promised you.”
Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, “God is in this place—truly. And I didn’t even know it!” He was terrified. He whispered in awe, “Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God’s House. This is the Gate of Heaven.”
Genesis 28:10-16

I can't even imagine having a dream like that...or what I would think upon waking from such a dream. Oooh, it makes me wonder!

A stairway to Heaven, to God, is an Incredible, Wonderful, Holy gift to Jacob. If only we could have a stairway to God as well.

But wait, we do! God also gifts a Stairway to Heaven to us, in the form of his only Son. Jesus is our stairway to God, our connection to the Almighty. 

I really never thought of it in quite this way, but did the other day in a conversation with a friend. She was talking about how she finds it difficult to talk to her father, because he's the authoritarian type, demanding a lot from her, and she's afraid of disappointing him... but that she can talk to her brother about just about anything. Her brother will often then relay to their father what is going on with her, in hopes that he will be more understanding when they do talk. Her brother is her comfortable connection to her father...even though she knows her father loves her with all his heart. 

It hit me that this is sometimes how I feel about talking to Jesus versus talking to God. Perhaps it's my Roman Catholic fear God / Jesus loves you background, but even though I know that God is Love, I sometimes find it easier to chat with His Son, "Jesus, our Brother, kind and good - humbly born in a stable rude..."

This Advent, this Christmas, when you are celebrating what a wonderful Gift we are given in Jesus... Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace ... you can add Stairway to Heaven to the list.