How is your Christmas season going --- honestly! Does overwhelmed describe you? Let me guess. You still have:
Gifts to buy
And ribbons to tie,
Decorating to do,
The menu to choose,
Groceries to get,
Crafts not finished yet,
Greetings to send,
Festivities to attend.
Buried beneath all of this, Jesus has a gift for you. Yes, for you! Your name is on the gift tag. He has one for me too. I have to ask you a soul-searching question. Is your name on the gift tag once or twice? That may seem a strange inquiry, but I feel like it's what Jesus asked me today.
Christmas is/can be a wonderful time of the year. It's the perfect opportunity to focus on Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. Hopefully we will spend time pondering the amazing truth that God's gift to man was a revelation of Himself. What we tend to forget is, the baby in the manger was only the beginnning of God's revelation. He revealed Himself as the sacrifice for sin on Calvary, the Savior at the resurrection, the Sovereign King at the ascension, and the Spirit that indwells on the day of Pentecost.
Not just at Christmas, but everyday He offers me the gift of Himself. He desires to reveal more and more of who He is to me. He calls to me as He longingly called to Adam in the garden, "Where are you?" So, at this season --- the season that's supposed to be a celebration of Him --- is my name on His gift tag for me once or twice?
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is contained in only five verses. "Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listeneing to HIs word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.' But the Lord answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken from her.' Luke 10:38-42. Martha's name was written twice on her gift tag from Jesus. To: Martha, Martha. Maybe Jesus had to say her name twice because she was working so feverishly that she didn't hear Him the first time. Maybe the vacuum cleaner (or the Christmas carols) drowned out His voice.
Fast forward in time (and in the Bible) to John 20:11-18. "But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, 'Woman why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.' When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?' Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to Him, 'Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.' Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means teacher). Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord,' and that He had said these things to her.
There's a lot of disagreement concerning whether this Mary is the same Mary mentioned in the Martha/Mary story. As my great grandma would have said, "That's neither here nor there." The point is, this Mary's name is on the gift tag once. "To: Mary." Jesus didn't have to repeat it. True, she didn't recognize Him at first, but the difference is, she was actively seeking Him. All He had to do to reveal Himself to her was to say her name --- Mary ---once!
That's what I want for Christmas --- an ongoing revelation of Jesus, past the manger, past the cross, past the empty tomb, past His throne in heaven. I want a revelation of intimacy from the indwelling Spirit of Jesus who only has to call my name once to get my full attention.
Gifts to buy
And ribbons to tie,
Decorating to do,
The menu to choose,
Groceries to get,
Crafts not finished yet,
Greetings to send,
Festivities to attend.
Buried beneath all of this, Jesus has a gift for you. Yes, for you! Your name is on the gift tag. He has one for me too. I have to ask you a soul-searching question. Is your name on the gift tag once or twice? That may seem a strange inquiry, but I feel like it's what Jesus asked me today.
Christmas is/can be a wonderful time of the year. It's the perfect opportunity to focus on Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. Hopefully we will spend time pondering the amazing truth that God's gift to man was a revelation of Himself. What we tend to forget is, the baby in the manger was only the beginnning of God's revelation. He revealed Himself as the sacrifice for sin on Calvary, the Savior at the resurrection, the Sovereign King at the ascension, and the Spirit that indwells on the day of Pentecost.
Not just at Christmas, but everyday He offers me the gift of Himself. He desires to reveal more and more of who He is to me. He calls to me as He longingly called to Adam in the garden, "Where are you?" So, at this season --- the season that's supposed to be a celebration of Him --- is my name on His gift tag for me once or twice?
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is contained in only five verses. "Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listeneing to HIs word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.' But the Lord answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken from her.' Luke 10:38-42. Martha's name was written twice on her gift tag from Jesus. To: Martha, Martha. Maybe Jesus had to say her name twice because she was working so feverishly that she didn't hear Him the first time. Maybe the vacuum cleaner (or the Christmas carols) drowned out His voice.
Fast forward in time (and in the Bible) to John 20:11-18. "But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, 'Woman why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.' When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?' Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to Him, 'Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.' Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means teacher). Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord,' and that He had said these things to her.
There's a lot of disagreement concerning whether this Mary is the same Mary mentioned in the Martha/Mary story. As my great grandma would have said, "That's neither here nor there." The point is, this Mary's name is on the gift tag once. "To: Mary." Jesus didn't have to repeat it. True, she didn't recognize Him at first, but the difference is, she was actively seeking Him. All He had to do to reveal Himself to her was to say her name --- Mary ---once!
That's what I want for Christmas --- an ongoing revelation of Jesus, past the manger, past the cross, past the empty tomb, past His throne in heaven. I want a revelation of intimacy from the indwelling Spirit of Jesus who only has to call my name once to get my full attention.
