A number of years ago two men sat together on a train. As they sped along, one of them appeared to markedly enjoy the passing scenery. He declared now and again, in a fairly loud voice, “Wonderful . . . wonderful!”

This spontaneous utterance was repeated over and over until the other traveler, by now growing irritated, spoke up. “Excuse me, sir!” he said. “Do you have to keep referring to everything you see as ‘wonderful’?”

“I’m sorry if I’ve been annoying you,” said the first, “but it’s hard to contain myself. I’ve been blind since the day I was born, and just last week, because of a brilliant surgeon, I received my sight. I’m seeing trees and lakes and animals and people for the first time—and everything seems so wonderful.”

The weary traveler, taken aback, apologized for his remark. No longer irritated, he began to enjoy watching his newfound friend experience the thrill of seeing for the first time—discovering things he himself had seen many times and, unfortunately, had ceased to wonder over... 

This story reminds me of what can happen to Christians who have known the Lord for a number of years. It is easy to lose our sense of wonder. When Jesus opens our blind eyes to His salvation and we see for the first time, how we are filled with the wonder of it all! Unfortunately, over time we can become familiar with those things that filled us with awe and forget how wonderful the things of God are.

It is a wonderful thing to be saved, to worship and to serve Jesus Christ. It is wonderful to be part of His church. It is wonderful to gather together and praise Him for who He is and to consider everything He has done for us.

And our Savior Himself is wonderful.

My prayer is that, as Christians, we will always retain the sense of wonder that seeing for the first time brings.

At the Christmas season we celebrate the birth of the One foretold by the prophet Isaiah—the One who would be a light in the darkness and who would carry the government upon His shoulders.

Describing the Child born and the Son given, Isaiah said He would be called “Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.” But the name given Him before any of the others was “Wonderful.”

“And he will be called . . . Wonderful.” (Isa. 9:6)