Isaiah 7:14b
This particular issue has been on my mind a lot lately. During this time of year many people spend to excess and put emphasis on how the tree looks (when did the color of lights become such a big deal?), but they forget about what Christmas truly was.
So, if you know your Bible a bit, in the Old Testament God tries several times to be among his people. Have you ever tried desperately to be near or close with someone after a huge falling out? God does this multiple times, but there's a problem...sin. God's plan was to be with people and to have a close relationship, what happened in the Garden messed that all up.
You see, God is so good, so pure, so holy that sin can't be around him. My head starts to hurt just thinking about the vastness of God and the depth of his understanding. So, the Garden put a big damper on the whole relationship with God thing because there was no way to be close to him with all that sin.
Back to the verse: Jesus IS God with us. Immanuel. The Holy One himself, in flesh. With hunger, pain, weakness...all that human stuff. Not only that, he was sinless. Jesus spent a lot of time praying, I think there was a deep hole from being separated that way from God, and I have to think it hurt.
Now we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that intimate God With Us...but until Jesus, we couldn't have. We celebrate the birth of Christ because not only was he the Lamb of God and Savior of the world, but because in being so, he restored a relationship with God. Mary, that evening, holding her sweet newborn son, held the link. She gave us his presence...that's what we celebrate.
So, don't feel bad about how many presents you get or give...or traveling. Don't focus on perfection or spending money. Cultivate relationship, share the best present you have...and do it for the glory of the Kingdom. Not so that people would know your name, but his: Jesus, Messiah...Immanuel, God with Us.
No comments:
Post a Comment