Luke 2:6-7 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
How far would you be willing to walk to hear the gospel
being taught? Could you just throw a few cold biscuits and some jerky into a
knapsack, water the dog and take off walking away from home and all that is
familiar with just the few bucks in your pocket regardless of weather conditions
if something in your gut told you to follow the stranger in town? Could you
walk into a mob of angry people who thought you were spitting in the face of
everything they ever believed about God? Would you willingly sleep alongside
the road in the middle of nowhere if it would lead you into the next town to
face the next mob of skeptics?
Chances are you wouldn’t do any of those things. We ‘Believers’
are willing to pray for people from the comfort of our padded seats in our air
conditioned churches as long as the music is inspiring enough and the sermon doesn’t
last too long so we can get into our air conditioned cars and drive to our
favorite Sunday restaurant before the crowds hit. We’ll bow our heads and give
thanks for the food publically as a witness of our faith…if it doesn’t
embarrass us or anyone at our table…or not.
When we say we ‘follow Christ’, where exactly are we going
in all that ‘following’?
Jesus laid His royal heavenly robe down on His seat at the
right hand of God and exchanged it for some scrapes of fabric He was swaddled
in to ward off the bitter cold in the dead of winter. He endured the labor of childbirth
to come into our world as an infant so He could know and experience everything
we go through. This was the least of the physical pain He bore. That less than
remarkable manger was a far cry from His throne in Heaven. Shortly after His birth,
he began the discomfort of a long journey to Egypt with His earthly parents in their
efforts to keep the child out of harm’s way. Taking a baby to the grocery store
is an event today; can you even begin to comprehend throwing your diaper bag
across the back of a donkey and heading out walking to another country? This
was the first of many trips Jesus made on foot.
As we celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas, let’s not
glamorize the event to make it all sweet and cutesy. It was an arduous journey
from the throne to the manger. The first step of many, many more He would make
on our behalf. It was the man Jesus making those steps, a rock in His sandal
felt like a rock would to you or me in ours. Yet the same Jesus knew every step
He would take on His way to the cross and still chose to take them for you and
me.
So I leave you with this question, how far would you be
willing to walk for Him?
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