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Even the most level-headed Christ-follower - one focused on worshiping Jesus - can get distracted at Christmas.
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Image: Valley News, Paul Gallaher
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If that's you, then likely you are already well-aware of the danger in focusing on gifts, shopping, parties, vacations and even family time or special church activities during the holiday season.
What may be more subtly distracting is how you receive God's gift at Christmas.
Do You Focus Your Attention on the Baby?
It is natural to focus attention on the baby Jesus at Christmas. After all, the holiday is a celebration of His birth. Further, you can identify with the human elements of the story. A simple peasant girl, engaged to be married, discovers she faces an unplanned pregnancy and the many complications that go along with it. Meanwhile, her fianc� (a responsible, dependable fellow) naturally feels betrayed and humiliated.
As a human being, you can relate to their emotions.
To top it off, their government has mandated that the couple make an arduous cross-country trek in order to register for tax purposes. As a taxpayer, you can relate to the annoyance and inconvenience of that requirement.
Consider the birth itself: Mary and Joseph are in a strange area. They have no friends, no family, and no money when she goes into labor. As a parent, family member, or friend, you can relate to the couple's panic and struggle. And when Mary gives birth to a healthy child, you can relate to the joy of a new life.
The birth of a baby is tangible ... something you can get your mind around. At Christmas, it is natural to focus your attention on God's gift of the Christ Child.
Do You Focus Your Attention on God's Deity?
What is less natural and more challenging is to focus your attention on the deity of God at Christmas.
- The Creator of the universe used His ability to generate life inside a human being apart from the natural biological process He had already set into motion. You may find it hard to relate to that kind of authority and capacity.
- The Creator of the universe loved you so much that He sent His Son to take on human form and live in one of the most impoverished areas of the world. You may find it hard to relate to that kind of love and sacrifice.
- The Creator of the universe - One who could easily force you to do His bidding - gives you the opportunity to believe Him, embrace Him, follow Him, and tell others about Him ... or not. You may find it hard to relate to that kind of willingness and acceptance.
You cannot relate to God's deity, but you can choose to marvel and wonder at it.
Two Ways to Receive Immanuel, "God with Us"
While the birth of a baby allows us to relate to the human components of Christmas, the deity of God challenges us to a spiritual, even unquantifiable understanding.
Matthew 1:23 reminds us, "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel which means, God with us" (ESV). Note the scripture did not say, "Immanuel means 'Baby with us.'" Rather the scripture promises the presence of the Divine.
The astonishment of Christmas is that God offers us different ways to receive Him: both in the tangible and intangible ... as a Baby and as Deity.
One way allows us to identify with Him. The other allows us to marvel at Him.
Both reveal Him.
You can embrace both. Will you? The choice is up to you.
Growth Point
God gives us tangible and intangible ways to receive Him.
Scripture
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us. (Matthew 1:23, ESV)
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No matter how intentional your focus is on Jesus during the Christmas season, it can be easy to get distracted.
