Advent Scripture Series: Week 4

Advent Scripture Series

Week 4

This Christmas, more than any other, I have tried to intentionally focus my heart on Christ. It has not always been easy. Life gets in the way of good intentions all too often. But I have tried to be in His Word every day, seeking out scriptures for this very series. And I have felt my heart changing, moving old bitterness aside, throwing worry out, and letting love take up the space, preparing the way for Him. It gets so stressful in the last few days before Christmas, don't lose sight of what the season is about now.There was no room for Him in the inn so long ago, don't let the same happen to your hearts. Make room for Him, prepare Him a place.

God's love was manifested towards us in that He sent His only begotten Son that we may have life and live through Him. He did not send His Son for us to forget, to deny, to reject. He sent Him because He loved us, because we were dying and heading straight for the hell we deserved. But He sent us His Son that starry night, to worship and adore. True Love born in a stable.

Every year since my oldest was born, I have read to them The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. This year was no exception. And last night, as they lay peacefully sleeping, I finished reading the last few pages of the story of the Herdmans. 6 wild and rowdy children, who had never even heard the Christmas story. Not so much unlike my own boys would have been if God hadn't intervened and changed our lives so completely. This verse came to mind as I read. Herein is love...not that we loved God, but that He loved us. He loved us so much that He sent His Son to reconcile our sin, a debt that we could never ever repay otherwise. I finished reading the story in tears, as usual, but each time I read it, it means a little more.

"It suddenly occurred to me that this was just the way it must have been for the real Holy Family, stuck away in a barn by people who didn't much care what happened to them. They couldn't have been very neat and tidy either, but more like this Mary and Joseph (Imogene's veil was cockeyed as usual, and Ralph's hair stuck out all around his ears). Imogene had the baby doll but she wasn't carrying it the way she was supposed to, cradled in her arms. She had it slung up over her shoulder, and before she put it back in the manger she thumped it twice on the back.
I heard Alice gasp and she poked me. "I don't think it's very nice to burp the baby Jesus," she whispered, "as if he had colic." Then she poked me again. "Do you suppose he could have had colic?"
I said, "I don't know why not," and I didn't. He could have had colic, or been fussy, or hungry like any other baby. After all, that was the whole point of Jesus -- that he didn't come down on a cloud like something out of "Amazing Comics," but that he was born and lived...a real person."
--The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

My niece is almost halfway through her first pregnancy. Her little tummy is starting to round out and she is beginning to show. And today as our family gathered around the Christmas tree to open our gifts, her tiny, 8oz unborn son was not forgotten. In fact he was lavished in gifts. One might ask why, considering he is not even born yet. But Uriah Luke is loved beyond measure already. He has been hoped for, prayed for, and is anxiously awaited for. Again, one might ask why? Why do we love this tiny person who is entirely dependent on his Momma, who can serve us in no way, who will truly only bring many tears and heartaches during his life, who could be seen as a burden and a hindrance. We love Uriah because we love his Momma, we love his Daddy. This baby is one created in love and one who will bring so much joy and happiness to his family. This baby is one who was not created for serving but one to be served, to be looked after and cared for, one who will never have to worry about parents being angry and bitter about late night feedings and changings, a baby who will never lack for arms to hold him, to rock him, to hug him. Uriah who was created in spite of the burden, the tears and the heartaches that accompany us all in life, he was created because of the love, the joy, and the tears of happiness and full hearts he will bring. And he will love us because we love him so mightily.

You might be thinking of another baby this Christmas season, one born of entirely different circumstances. A baby born by miraculous, immaculate conception. Born to take on the sins of the world. Born to carry our burdens, count our tears, mend our broken hearts. Born because no service we could ever offer His Father would cover the sin debt that we owe. Jesus was a baby born because He first loved us, not because we loved Him. He loved us before we knew Him, even loves us as so many of us reject Him now. He loved us in spite of our shortcomings, our failures, our total dependence on Him. And He gave the greatest gift we could ever imagine...Salvation. He gave Himself.

And we love Him because He first loved us.