And so it begins. With Thanksgiving behind us, we are wading--or perhaps diving head-first--into the Christmas season, the time when we commemorate God's invasion of our planet to eventually eradicate evil. As I pondered this, an image flashed into my mind, which may or may not have been a message from God. But either way, I felt it was worth writing about today.
Here's the picture that popped into my head: God coming to us in the form of an infant. What a delicious irony, this--the Creator of a billion stars coming to this tiny planet as a tinier, helpless baby. And since God, in the form of this Jesus, didn't cheat the physical constraints of being a human, I have to believe that He was truly helpless.
My grandson isn't quite 16 months old--so, much more capable than an infant--but still, he wouldn't last very long without his parents (or other caring adults) looking after him. He's trying to talk, but it's still just gibberish (even though it seems like he thinks he's saying things that make sense), so he can't even convey what his needs or wants are. He needs people who care enough about him to try to discern what he needs.
And, of course, I remember this from my own children as well: newborn babies are even more dependent on others to survive than a toddler is.
For those of us who recognize Jesus as part of the Triune God, it's difficult for us to think of God as ever needing anything from a human, but this truth is revealed in the Nativity story. Sure, we like to picture a cute little baby Jesus lying in a manger, but how often do we dwell on the fact that He depended on people to stay alive?
What's the point? Well, of course, there are lots of lessons to be learned from walking with Jesus through His earthly ministry. We can certainly learn a lot from things He said--His many wise and challenging teachings. But we can also learn many things simply by examining His life--the things He did, the way He acted and reacted.
In this case, I can't help but wonder if God sent Jesus to us as a baby instead of a fully grown man so He could show us that it's OK--even necessary--to depend on other people.
In our culture, we prize rugged individualism--I did it my way, I pulled myself up by my bootstraps, look what I did.
But those are all examples of our pride talking, and pride is one of the most clever and insidious weapons of the evil one. He enjoys helping us think we don't need anyone else. And he's the father of lies.
Of course, there's absolutely nothing wrong with working hard, as though success depends solely on our own efforts. But it's foolishness to think we can actually achieve anything worthwhile without the help of others. Oh yeah, and without God's help.
So, maybe as we slide into the Christmas season, every time we see images of the baby Jesus or sing about an infant so tender and mild, we should reflect on our own dependence on others, and on God. Perhaps this would be a good way to help us eliminate Satan's foothold of pride in our lives and turn instead to a posture of gratitude toward God and--<gasp!>--other people. Who knows, maybe it's the path toward sleeping in heavenly peace.
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