With Christmas just eight days away, lights and decorations are being displayed everywhere. I'll admit, I enjoy the lights if I happen to be driving after dark. They can be overdone, for sure, but that's not really my point.
The sparkle is pretty, but it also makes me stop and think: We make such a big to-do over this holiday. (I'm speaking in general terms. "We" as a society.) Yet the contrasts between our Christmas season and Jesus' birth are rather stark.
There were no sparkly lights, no tinselled trees, no piles of gifts. No mad rush for buying things, no extravagant parties to plan.
Now, I'm not saying trees or gifts or parties are wrong. They may blur our focus, if we let them.
Jesus came into our world without sparkle, without pomp, without parades in His honor. He was born into an ordinary family - His earthly father a carpenter. His first visitors were shepherds.
We welcome Him in the same way - no fanfare needed, just humble hearts ready to receive Him. This Story isn't about the sparkle. It's about Grace.
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