He stepped down from heaven …                     carrying a Baby!

I can lose myself in Christmas faster than you can drop and break a Christmas ornament.

I lose myself in its majesty. The grand scope of God’s entrance into this world … the star bringing the wise men, the angel’s appearances to Mary and Joseph, heaven’s premier angel choir breaking in on a quiet Bethlehem pasture.

I also lose myself in its characters. Along with a very young virgin ‘mother-to-be’ and her confused fiancé Joseph, we add ancient Anna and Simeon whose long wait to see and hold the Messiah finally pays off. Then there are the terrified shepherds whose fear becomes awe and worship. They probably never could figure out why they, the lowliest of Israel’s lowly are the first to be told!

I even empathize with the inn keeper who in centuries to come is the Biblical equivalency of Ebenezer Scrooge for putting his guests out back in the barn. He, too, adds color to this implausible story.

But mostly I lose myself in the breathtaking theology of the Incarnation! To most of us, theology doesn’t necessarily light our fire. But this theology is from out of this world!

God is going to visit earth and so He steps down from the portals of glory … with a Baby in his arms!

God shows up in a world that has grown cold toward him. It’s a place where a once warm relationship between He and his creation has been turned into an abstract religious movement centered around rules, regulations and smoky mystery.

He approaches people who don’t trust his intentions … who don’t grasp the greatness of his heart and intentions for them. He comes to his own and they want nothing to do with him!

Some of the same assumptions about him are still believed today. Like, He’s oblivious to us …. or He’s out to get us … He’s going to throw his weight around and lay a heavy religious agenda on us that has little to do with real life.

Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus perfectly mirrors God and when He appears in human form it catches all of humanity by surprise. Instead of insisting on tribute and making demands, He stops people in the streets to ask if He can do anything for them.

He picks up on needs – on fears – on disappointments and then addresses them by ministering to them. He comes acquainted with our grief, bearing our sorrows and allows our pain to become his. His life-long agenda is shared with us in Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.” NIV

This week, don’t allow the Christmas lights to blind your eyes, the Christmas music to drown out his voice, the commercialism to distort your understanding of God’s most impressive Gift … He came with your Savior!

There’s still time to spend less than $15 dollars on a gift that will be opened 365 times in 2016. Order “Fresh Heart For a New Day” from Amazon.com today!