At Christmas we give gifts to those we love. It gives us an opportunity to tell others how much we love and appreciate them.  As parents and grandparents our joy is seen in the excitement and anticipation those gifts bring.  Our family celebrated Christmas early last Sunday afternoon (it was the only time everyone could get together).  Watching the absolute amazement and pure joy of Lucas (3 years old) as he got exactly what he wanted made it all worthwhile.

Christmas should be a time of awe and reverence.  It is a time when we celebrate that God took on Himself human flesh and chose to come live with us.  He is more than a babe in a manger – He is God.  And that fills our lives with wonder!   His very presence is the motivation of our celebration.

His birth has no precedent – His living with us has no analogy.  It places this event in a category we cannot explain.  In Jesus, God was born, lived in this world, died, rose again and ascended to heaven becoming the object of a lasting wonder to all.  How is it possible that this baby could be infinite and finite, mortal and immortal, omnipotent and yet vulnerable?

That explains why with great humility we need to lift our hearts in praise and worship to Him who is God, born in the flesh!  This Christmas let us acknowledge the greatest of wonders; that our salvation, our blessing, our life and our hope are made possible only because God in Christ Jesus was born in Bethlehem. 

God knew that we would never “get it” if He just sent the message of the kingdom to us.   So God came to bring His very presence to us.   God’s intention is to share His life with us and ours with Him. Christmas is all about Immanuel – “God with us.”

I pray that you and your family will be overshadowed in a fresh way by the presence of our Savior as you celebrate His birth.