One day, when she was around three, Abby stood next to
me in the bathroom as I fixed my hair. It was near Christmas and she was
singing a song she had learned in Sunday school. I listened to her sing and
realized she was a bit confused.
She
sang, "Always in a manger, no crib for His head..."
I
swallowed a laugh and told her, "No, Honey. It's not 'always,' it's 'away
in a manger.'"
"Okay,"
she said, and started in again. "Away in a manger..."
But it
made me think. Always in a manger. . . .
It's
appropriate to celebrate Jesus' miraculous birth. God Himself marked the event
with an angel
choir. But we can't leave Jesus there, in a manger. His birth was not the whole
story. He came to Earth to grow into an extraordinary youth who dazzled priests
with His knowledge; to become a teacher who fed multitudes; and a Redeemer who
sacrificed His life for our eternal salvation.
It's
easier to think about the baby Jesus. It doesn't require much of us. Granted, it
takes faith to
believe in His virgin birth, but there is nothing about His birth that makes us
consider ourselves, our sinfulness. It's Jesus the Man who demands something of
us. His death on the cross—we have to do something with that. We can choose to
ignore it, we can dismiss it, or we can be changed by it.
Christmas
is a time of joy and gladness—it's good news that Jesus
came. But we can't leave Jesus in the manger. He didn't come to Earth to be a
baby. He came to Earth to be a Savior.
December
22, 2004
