We are entertained by the "Mayhem" commercials for insurance. A worse-for-wear fellow enjoys his role as the troublemaker in a variety of incidents that can happen to car and house owners. He steals a car and runs over the mailbox; he is a tailgater tailgating to get to his tailgating; he is the cat that runs wild in the house; the dog in the moving car, attempting to distract the driver; and most recently he is the elf on the shelf that is too heavy. Besides entertaining us, the commercials show that the company realizes bad things do happen by accident.
Sometimes life is unpredictable. Things go wrong. For the Israelites bad things had been happening for centuries, but in their hope was the coming of a Savior. They knew all about Him but would they recognize the Holy One when He arrived as a baby?
As the season of Christ Jesus' birth arrives, let us be filled with anticipation, hope, and joy, for Immanuel "God With Us" is coming. We know He is already with us, daily walking with us, but for this season we anticipate His birthday with rejoicing and celebrate the wonderful day of His birth.
What does your celebration include that reminds you of Jesus? Do you make Jesus a birthday cake as I did when our boys were little? Do you set out nativity scenes? Do you hang only sheep on the Christmas tree to remember the shepherds? These are a few of the things I do to keep my mind focused on Jesus.
I love the Old Testament references to Jesus birth and His life, so I plan to reread some of those verses interspersed with the New Testament Christmas stories. Another of my favorite Christmas activities is hearing Handel's Messiah, on tape or in person throughout the Christmas season.
Micah predicts hundreds of years before Christ's birth,
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times," (Micah 5:2 NIV).
Jesus is coming.
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