A few years ago, our church was in the town’s Christmas parade. We went with the classic manger scene, as many churches do, ‘reason for the season’ after all. When the parade was over we were left with a makeshift stable, and being the resourceful folks that we are, decided to set it on the front lawn of our church. We propped up the little three-sided building and set the characteristic feeding trough in it, but then we discovered we didn’t have any statues or figurines to complete the scene. On the parade float, real people had taken the lead roles of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and angels, and a doll had played Jesus, but we didn’t have any artificial versions to use. We could have bought some, or even made some I suppose, but time simply marched on and then the Christmas season was over and there sat the empty manger.

At first, I was annoyed with my own laziness, that I couldn’t just get this task complete. I mean, what’s a manger without its Christmas characters? But then a thought struck me. How splendidly that shabby, less-than-perfect empty stable represents our own being.

When God decided to join the human race by sending Jesus; he had an endless amount of options in how that could look. If prophecies from the Old Testament had been a little different, Jesus could have been born to wealthy merchants within the Jewish society, to one of the Pharisees or religious leaders of the day who held so much cultural sway. He could have been born as a servant into the household of a Roman soldier or even into the palace of Caesar Augustus. Any of these certainly would have been a little more worthy for the one who created it all. But we all know that he came, born in a lowly stable, not even getting the dignity of a bed for his first nights on earth.

Being Good Enough

I think a lot of the time there’s a misconception in our society about Christianity. That you have to be good enough to be a Christian. I’ve heard many times from all kinds of people, “I’ve done too many bad things for God to love me,” or “There’s no way God could forgive and love me, I’m just not good enough.” Being a Christian has absolutely nothing to do with being good enough; quite the opposite in fact. People who have become Christians have looked at their lives and said, “You know what, I’m not perfect, and I believe I need a Savior to be deemed worthy for the perfection of relationship with God, who is perfect. Jesus is that Savior.” Being a Christian is about owning the fact that we aren’t perfect, but still asking Jesus to come in and be part of our lives.

It’s About Willingness

That empty stable so many years ago would have been dirty, likely rundown, definitely smelly. It would have had areas that needed tending to, spots that the owner probably wished he could hide from the public. But even in its ugliness it was ready to receive that bundle of joy. It stood empty but waiting for something truly special.

No matter where your life has taken you, what things you have done or not done that leave you feeling unable to be accepted by Jesus, I urge you this Christmas to think of the empty manger, completely unworthy of His majesty, yet still open and willing to receive Him in.

Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas!

Becky

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