Friday December 23, 2016
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. -Isaiah 9:6
I have received some really great presents in my lifetime. I am not very old yet, but I can remember some things like my fitbit, my jeep, my iPhone, clothes/pursues that I had wanted, and so much more.
However, there is one present that stands above the rest…..baby Jesus.
The king of the world was born in a stable. It was a building for the lodging and feeding of animals such as horses, cattle, and sheep. It had stalls, and there would have been a collection of animals. They would have been making sounds, and their smell wouldn’t have gone unnoticed.
Jesus’ birth was far from noble. Instead, he came tiny, and in an overlooked town.
The One who made the starry skies was laying underneath them in a stable. That night, the stable became a throne.
If I had been writing the story, Bethlehem wouldn?t be the setting and a tiny human probably wouldn?t be my starting point.
Yet, the fact that He came as a helpless child, born into a dirty, messy stable gives us hope. Hope that He still comes to us. Hope that He enters into our mess, our dirtiness and allows us to cling to Him.
This is the King we serve, a God who lets us draw near, unafraid. Humble, holy. Fully God, fully man. Approachable. Personal. He is the One for all people.
Behind the tinsel and trees is a light that shines brighter than all of the others. There were no colored lights, no Christmas carols, no Santa, no snow, and no presents….. except the most important gift of all.
His presence beats all of the presents in the world.
Embrace His presence this Christmas.
Prayer: “Jesus, thank you for coming to this world for me, for them, for us. Jesus thank you for humbling yourself and loving me enough to be born in a stable, and to die on a cross. I love you. Thank you for your birth. Thank you for your life. In your name I pray, Amen.”
-Whitney Flach
