Walk into any retail store this time of year and you will be instantly bombarded by CHRISTMAS. Decorations, gifts, lights, candy, food, you name it. Our calendars also begin to reflect the season as parties, performances and family gatherings elbow each other for space in our days.
I don’t know about you, but as much as I love all the trappings of Christmas, it can feel like the real reason for the celebration has been put under wrapping paper Himself.
Unfortunately, it can almost feel like a fight to keep the focus on the fact that the God of the universe came to earth in the form of a human baby. He came so meek and mild that He even surprised those who had been expecting Him. His whole life He had a way of turning people’s expectations of Him upside-down.
His parents didn’t understand Him, His friends didn’t understand, the leaders of the day didn’t get it. I guess it is not any wonder that we can struggle sometimes too. Jesus never forced anything on anyone and He still doesn’t. Jesus gently leads and invites, and offers us the best He can: Himself. This Christmas would be a wonderful time to accept that offer.
I would encourage you to carve some time out of your busy schedule to just spend time listening to what Jesus might be saying to you. Is He still waiting for you to accept His invitation to repent and follow Him? Does He want to show you some deeper truths? Take time to unwrap the mystery and the wonder of Christmas. For while it is true that His first Christmas on earth, He was wrapped in swaddling cloths, God most definitely does not want the amazing story of His Son’s birth hidden under a pile of wrapping paper this year!
“While they were there, the time came for her Child to be born. And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:6-7
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