Yesterday, as I was shopping, I suddenly started singing, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.” Up until then, I had felt quite different. After talking to a few of my friends, I realize that I am not alone when I say, “This has been an unusual Christmas season.” It’s as if Jesus (the Light of the World) has been shining a searchlight on the hearts of men and declaring, “My Christmas gift to you is not in what I am wrapping for you; it is in what I am unwrapping in you.”
Over 2000 years ago, the Son of God shed His royal robes and was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. The pure and spotless Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world was swaddled with the same type of cloth that swaddled the unblemished lambs that were set apart to be sacrificed. Wrapped in human flesh, the Kings of Kings had come to unwrap mankind from sin and shame.
The babe who laid where cattle were fed would become the living bread that satisfied man’s spiritual hunger. The wooden trough that was surrounded by lowly shepherds would be replaced by a wooden cross surrounded by haughty mockers, as Emmanuel (God with us) bridged the gap between Heaven and earth. Flesh would die, and eternal life would be birthed as Heaven’s glory wrote the greatest love story of all time.
Jesus entered this world with angelic choirs announcing His coming; He exited it announcing His return. He is the gift that keeps on giving. May You and I open our hearts and give Him permission to unwrap the things that hinder us from receiving more of His love and revelations of His glory.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” Isaiah 9:6 (KJV).
May you have a beautiful, blessed Christmas!
Jeannie