It’s like time stands still when babies are born. It literally is like the world and heaven stops for a moment and you have to pause to take it all in. It was like this when both of my babies were born. The miracle of their births and how God orchestrated their stories and answered prayers to bring them into our family was such a blessing. The anticipation of their arrivals were palpable. So much drama and planning and hoping and waiting in different ways for each child. And then they finally arrive and you know life will never be the same. You stare at the sweet face of a baby and you can’t help but adore them. The innocence, the beauty (in a wrinkly, soft baby way), the tenderness. It’s hard to not be moved in some way by a baby.
After that sweet pause of their arrival you also begin to realize that things are different. The world looks a lot different now. It’s filled with delight, wonder, newness, possibility, hope, makes you feel alive in new ways, it refocuses priorities, calls for strength, calls me to be the best me I can be. It is filled with great things and with scary things. Having a child can be all you ever hoped for and yet so much more than you ever expected or anticipated and it’s terrifying all at the same time.
I don’t spend much time thinking of Jesus as a baby. I do during the Christmas season for a moment here and there but I really focus on him as my savior, my king, and my God. But if I pause to think of him as a baby how does that change things? God sent Jesus to earth as a baby first. When he arrived on earth, in the most unexpected way, in the most unexpected place (a stinky barn with animals. And I thought having Jenna in another state with new doctors 5 weeks early was bad.), to a mother and father who didn’t expect their lives to take that path, heaven really did stand still. God had orchestrated an incredible and unexpected plan in the birth of Jesus. The world changed forever. It was given the gift of a child that would change everything. Jesus invites us to adore him, be in awe of him as I was in awe of both of my babies. He invites me to look at my life differently because he has come to be a part of it. All of the beauty of this magnificent King came in the package of a baby first. Would you be open to adoring Him?
I know many people who don’t see Jesus as a gift. Maybe you think, “I didn’t ask for that gift.” Sometimes the best gifts are the ones we didn’t ask for and offer something that we didn’t expect. Would you be willing to be open to Jesus as a gift this Christmas? Would you be willing to adore the beautiful baby that he was when he entered the world?
I’m praying that all of us, whether we’ve known Christ for years or we’re just learning about him would stop and be open to the gift that Jesus is. Be open to what He wants to do in my life, your life, this season. He invites us to adore him. He most certainly adores you.
(This post was spurred on by a devotion from the Moreland Presbyterian pastor at our last MOPS meeting.)