Beyond the Manger

This morning at church, our minister preached on what the babe in the manger had to tell us about Christmas, and specifically, what the babe had to say was the reason for why he came. The sermon took me back to a lesson I learned last Christmas from none other than our little girl. She was right at 18 months old and I remember she was fascinated with my various nativity sets. Her greatest interest was the little baby Jesus in the manger. This interest was not perhaps what you might initially expect. Without fail every day, she would remove (or try to remove-depending on the set), Jesus from the manger. She was determined that he did not belong there. I'm certain part of this came from her interest to understand how things come apart and go back together (a quality she has had since infancy), but as I picked up each baby Jesus and placed him back in his manger, I realized there was a great lesson there. Yes at Christmas, we think of Jesus as a little baby born in humble circumstances with nothing but a manger for a bed, but the story didn't end there. Hallelujah! The story continues to this very day because after his birth in the stable, he went on to be a man who walked this earth, become the Savior of this world, and rose victorious as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Our little daughter was right. Jesus doesn't belong in the manger. What a wonderful blessing to remember this at this time of the year. What we celebrate at Christmas would mean nothing if Christ didn't later allow himself to be die on the cross and then rise again, victorious over death. Instead of a little baby in the manger, I serve a risen Lord, one who sits at the right of God in heaven watching over and interceding on behalf of those who call him Lord and Savior.