Honoring More Than The Baby...

Having just had a baby, it's not much of a stretch for me to become emotional when I think of a "baby born to die..." and it would be very easy for be stay in the place of considering the Christmas story as "the sweet baby Jesus" lays quietly asleep....

That scene is emotional, sweet and tear-jerking. But let me tell you where my heart is resting this Christmas, in total awe...fearfully honoring more than just the baby.

That baby, had more power in His tiny person than anything I could dream of fathoming, and that tiny baby is the reason I can have hope every single day I live...that tiny baby is the reason for everything that means anything, and that tiny baby saved my life.

To stand at the manger scene and cry tears of sadness over a sweet baby who was born with a death sentence would be a disservice to the King and His purpose. His purpose on earth, being brought to earth the way He did was not to evoke feelings of sadness, but to allow us to understand that He truly "got it" (in terms of going through what we do) and also, to show us a perfect way to live, all the while being fully God, (perfect) and fully human (all our temptations) but not ever sin.

I find myself full of awe, fear and trembling this Christmas. He is so much bigger than my mind can comprehend, and the fact that it's sometimes difficult for me obey Him proves to me that I do not fully understand His greatness. He is a sweet Savior, but He also is bigger, stronger and more amazing than anything else in all of creation. He is not created, He is creator, nothing could be added to Him to make Him better and the mountains are His footstool. That's the God I'm worshiping this Christmas..

I feel this sense of urgency this Christmas to speak about Christ and His greatness, thinking of Jesus as the sweet baby boy does not cause me to feel like I have anything to worry about, anything to fear, or anything to confess. But when I think about Him as the strong King who created all and who controls all, speaks life into a soul and breaths life into a dead man's bones, I realize, there is more here to this baby.

The urgency I feel stems from this:

Each year, it's another year, another year of life on earth, one with joys, sadness, lessons learned and new things to do. But where does He fit in all of that for me? Do I honor Him as I claim I do? Do I WORSHIP Him as the be-all and end-all, or is He simply something that makes me feel good as I say my prayers before bed? He is a security blanket? Or do I give my everything for Him? He is not just a sweet baby my friends, He is a mighty King, and stronger than anything you or I can dare to comprehend. And here is the real place my heart is resting, soon, very soon, this world as we know it, will pass before our eyes. A trumpet will sound, and He is coming back for His own. I may sound like I'm talking crazy talk, but it's His plan, and I want to be apart of it. But who I am today, greatly affects where I go on "that final day..."

I don't want Him to come back and find me crying sweet emotional tears of "that poor child in the manger" rather than living each day fearfully for Him. (and by fearfully I mean with great respect)

I'm not normally and "hell and damnation" sort of person, and that is not to be the reason completely that we turn our eyes from self and back towards Him...but friends, my friends! Do you realize the urgency I speak of here? Christmas is a time to reflect on He who was born to die, but more-so, reflect on the reasons He HAD to die...He had to die because of how utterly lost we are without Him, and His great love for us held that baby on the cross because He did not want to see one of us perish.

Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth, but let us also reflect on the greatness of He who was born...He is more than a baby...He's our only hope, and our everything.

"THE LORD ALMIGHTY, HE IS THE KING OF GLORY.." Psalm 24:10