Luke 2:13-14 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
People
will react in various ways this year to the portrait of Jesus lying in a manger
as given to us in Scripture. For some, Christmas is all about spending too
much, opening gifts, eating food, and visiting family, but nothing more. The
mere thought of the Son of God being born to a carpenter's family and in a
stable instead of a king in a royal palace seems utterly absurd to some; after
all, for them, the Bible is nothing more than the product of a fairy tale or
"how to book" on being good.
Taking
"Christ" out of Christmas is like being at a "football game with
no football, a tennis match with no tennis ball, a golf outing with no golf
ball, or a basketball game with no basketball," it simply makes no sense!
But what even makes less sense is to be a born-again believer and yet under the
guise of going to church, reading Scripture, and singing Christmas carols
pretending to rightly worship our Savior while in practicality hanging a sign
on our hearts that says there is no room in the inn for God's Son! Truthfully,
we love the manger scene because within this glorious story lies a frail baby
dependent on us rather than us dependent on Him!
As we
reflect on the birth of Jesus, God's Son, we are encouraged not to ignore or
give mere platitudes to Christ on His birthday but to honor Him by taking time
to meet Him, by trading fear for the joy of His righteousness, and by spreading
the Good News that the Babe lying in the manger is none other than the world's
Redeemer come to save people from their sins! To honor Christ Jesus on His
birthday, one must first take the time to meet Him! Even though there was a
great flurry of activity and a crowd present that was so large that there were
no available rooms in Bethlehem, besides the shepherds, no one else visited the
Babe lying in the manger! While manger scenes often portray the wise men at the
manger, they did not arrive until Jesus was about two years of age. This
situation should open our minds and hearts about our Christmas calendars. We
are often quick to slot time for shopping for presents, buying food, Christmas
parties, and friend and family gatherings, but how much time do we "slot"
to pay homage to our King? Would spending a half hour on Christmas Eve be
enough for Jesus to boldly say to us, "Good and faithful servant"?
While
it is true that Christ is indivisibly present everywhere and the Spirit lives
within our hearts without taking time to be like Mary and ponder His miraculous
birth, how has our Spirit truly communed with He who bought us at a price (1
Corinthians 6:19-20)? If the wise men were willing to journey to meet Jesus,
which took about two years, surely, we can pencil in and spend the day honoring
Christ on His birthday.
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