The lights dance on boughs of green, twinkling in the shadows of the evening. The snow floats effortlessly through the stillness—the death of winter swallowed up in a cloak of white. The Jesse Tree stands reverent, unwrapping the wonder of ancient promises fulfilled in a swaddled bundle.
We’re reading the scriptures, hanging the ornaments, anticipating the arrival of the manger-sized King. Small eyes dance as the days draw near. Little hearts rejoice as the Dawn approaches.
And I sit here going through the motions not feeling a thing.
Signs of Jesus swirl around me, yet I can’t find Him. I’m searching for Him, but for some reason He seems just out of reach. I’m singing the songs, reading the books, remembering the story, but the wonder has vanished. Has Christmas become so normal that I can’t see the Christ who wrapped Himself in flesh in it anymore?
And then it hits me. Maybe I’m trying so hard to find Him that I’ve forgotten the miracle of glory-filled manger. Mary wasn’t looking for God when Gabriel showed up. God came after her. He found Zechariah that day in the temple. He found Joseph in the confusion of his heartbreak. He found the shepherds in the fields of their routine.
Isn’t it God who is looking for me? Isn’t that what He’s been doing since the beginning?
That day in the garden—in the cool of the day when God comes looking for Adam and Eve.
“Where are you” he pleads.
Where are you today? He’s come looking for you. In the cool of the day, as you hide in your shame, he hasn’t stopped looking.
He finds Hagar in the wilderness of despair.
He finds Jacob in the depths of a dream.
He finds Moses in the desert of shame.
He finds Samuel in the stillness of night.
He finds Jonah in the belly of a whale.
He finds Ezekiel in the shackles of captivity.
What about that sheep—the lost one—out in the dark, cold storm of life. The Shepherd goes looking. He’s in hot pursuit of the one he won’t give up on. That’s what Jesus said he came for. Not to be found, but to be the one who find us.
For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.
Luke 19:10
This is the miracle. The wonder of the straw-lined cradle. God came looking for us!
He doesn’t wait for us to come looking for Him. He’s already looking for us. Maybe if we would stop and turn around, we’d realize that He’s been right there all along.
Do know that there is a King who is madly, irrevocably, and unabashedly in love with you? It’s a make your knees tremble, heart skip a beat, do crazy things kind of love. And He is zealously, passionately, and jealously pursuing your heart. Right now. Today. Will you fall into His arms?
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