Jesus Moved Into The Neighborhood

The Christmas season marks the time when we remember the birth of Jesus. The interesting part is when I look at the world around me, what's on every one's lips is not this glorious occasion, but rather a song of consumerism and want.

Today I thought back to my childhood and how my mind would automatically associate Christmas morning with all the stuff I could hope to receive. Every year I would drive my mom crazy with my giant wish list and high expectations for what I would unwrap on Dec 25th.

There is nothing wrong with being a kid and wanting to wake up to some presents Christmas morning, but when our sole focus is the getting and receiving of gifts, we are missing the point.

I'm not the first to acknowledge or even write about the consumerism that plagues our culture around this time of year, but have we ever asked why?

Why do we choose to focus on stuff instead of our Savior? Why has Christmas become what it is in America?

I believe we have giant gaps in our hearts. Ways we have all been hurt, memories that haunt us, tragedies that have occurred. If we are honest, our time on Earth has not left any of us with a sense of wholeness in and of itself. We were all born into this world of sin and shame, guilt and death, trial and tragedy. We feel the full weight of that.

We may not always be able to name it specifically, but we recognize our lives are a mess sometimes. We know those gaps are there. Maybe we feel pain big time, or have taught ourselves to not feel at all, but it's there.

The good news of Christmas is Jesus came to set us free from those bonds of sin and death. As John 1:14 puts it in "The Message" translation of the Bible:

"The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish."

(emphasis mine)

Jesus, God himself, moved into the neighborhood. 

What I find interesting is how a season that marks a time when our Savior came to Earth to fill all of the gaps in our heart has become a season where we gather up anything and everything else to fill those gaps.

There is a huge significance behind the word Emmanuel or "God with us." God didn't have to come be with us. God is holy and could have kept himself out of our mess. What no other belief system can lay claim to is a God who became fully human and fully divine in order to draw his creation back to himself and make them whole.

This season is not a time for us to fill in the gaps in our lives with perishable things. This is a time for us to take ahold of the nonperishable love and redemption found in Christ Jesus.

Check out 1 Peter 1: 3-9:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,  who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (emphasis mine)

We have all faced darkness. We all need something more than what this Earth can give us. So consider with me regaining focus in this season and remembering who Jesus is and why He came. More than that, take practical steps with me to press into the Father's heart and let him fill in our wounds and our gaps.

It's why He came. There is a light, and it's shining in the darkness, and the darkness against it won't prevail. There is a greater inheritance waiting for us that what we would or could give ourselves, and it's in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 1:18-19:

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."

Strength in Weakness

"He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,  but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." - 2 Timothy 1: 9-10

"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." - 2 Timothy 2:1

I often think that everything in my life is a result of my own actions and my own ability to pull myself up by my bootstraps, persevere, and make the right choices.

I put the weight of my own salvation on myself. I put the weight of other's salvation on myself.

But very simply, whatever I may ever gain or possess or have given to me or see or do or accomplish, can never compare to the riches of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.

My strength cannot solely come from me if I am to continue running this race of life. I can no longer pretend like my weaknesses don't exist. I cannot detach from my own heart or from the heart of God.

I have to press into the heart of God and be strong in His grace. Because he has always been my Father and it's never been because of what I have or haven't done. He loves me because of his own purpose and grace, and it is in that grace I will find my true strength.