Relationships are ours for the Making

My friend posted this on her family's blog this past week.

….until one morning in Bethlehem.
As a group of lowly shepherds, misplaced in the city, came bursting through the disrupted streets claiming something about angels and a baby and a….barn?  They must have had a rough night out on the fields!  Surely they had no idea what they were talking about!  And who is Mary?  Joseph?  These are nobodies!  Somebody please, send them back where they came from!  Enough of this nonsense!
And yet, something about the urgency of their message and the glow in their eyes may have caught my attention.  The spring in their step seemed a bit too giddy to have come from no where.  What would I have thought?  Would I have wondered enough to pursue my curiosity or simply rolled my eyes and gone on with my day to day tasks?  Could I have missed it?  Could I actually have slept through it?
I’d like to think not.  But the fact is, Jesus entered this world quietly.  Simply.  Ordinary.  In the most humble of places.  Dependent on the very people He had made. Only a few shepherds got to hear the mighty angelic proclamation of His arrival, and the rest of the world went on unaware.
Now, 2000 years later, we’re about to celebrate Christmas.  It’s one of the biggest holiday celebrations of the year.  Christmas itself is hard to miss—the lights, trees, decorations and ornaments, music, mall displays and Santa visits make it pretty clear that something is going on.  There is hardly a moment to spare in the hustle and bustle of the season with parties to attend, gifts to find, boxes to wrap, cookies to decorate, and families to please.  We are the epitome of Dr. Seuss’s little Who’s down in Whoville, all blissfully going about our duties…..
….while Jesus quietly waits for us to show up at the manger.
This Christmas, I want to show up at the manger! I want to adore Him from the core of my heart!  I want to still myself in the midst of the busy activity and be fascinated with the mystery of His birth….the simple, humble entrance of Yahweh God into this broken, fallen world.  He has come to fill me with HOPE and JOY everlasting!  I think I would prance all giddy and wide-eyed through the streets of Bethlehem for that!
Oh come let us adore Him!  Oh come let us adore Him! Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the LORD!
This is a song by Casting Crowns called “While You Were Sleeping”.  It’s one of my favorites and really inspired me to write this post.

Emily, like all of us have a choice. Christmas, the birth of Jesus can be an interruption, a hassle, a fairy tale. Or we can choose to look for Jesus who came quietly. He came for us, but He does not force Himself into our lives. He presents Himself and we can choose what kind of a relationship we want to have with Him. How great is that? We can choose to have a relationship with the God of the universe!