Don't Miss the Baby

Last Friday night, Larry and I went to a “South Main Bethlehem” in Pasadena.  This is the second year the church has invited the community to catch a glimpse of what Bethlehem was like at the time Jesus was born.  At the beginning of the trail, our guide welcomed us to Bethlehem and talked what to expect to see and do as we followed along the path.  At the conclusion of the greeting, we were encouraged to not miss seeing and celebrating the baby like so many did at the time Jesus was born.  Upon entering the city, we were given a coin and then guided to a table to register for the census.  Next we went to a station and paid our taxes with the coin.  We then followed the trail to visit shops, participate in hands on activities, watch as baskets were woven, pottery was made, wool prepared, and butter churned.  We also saw live animals, soldiers, priests, angels in the field, and heard the shofar being blown.  Even with all the excitement, things to see and do, and hustle and bustle of Bethlehem, I was acutely aware of the invitation and challenge to not miss the baby.  At the end of the path, away from the crowds and busy town, we came to a stable and found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.  

December is full of opportunities to hear, see, smell, taste, and feel the sounds and sights of the holidays.  There are school and church programs, concerts, plays and movies, parties, worship services, time with family and friends, along with homes to decorate, presents to buy and wrap, cards to addressed and send, food to prepare, books to read, kids to play with and listen to, and the list goes on.  With the busyness of the season, I need to be intentional in the ways I prepare for, ponder, celebrate, and worship.  I don’t want these days to come and go and have missed the Christ of CHRISTmas.  And thankfully, our looking and seeking are not confined to Christmas time.  God has promised us that when we seek Him we will find Him, when we seek Him with all our heart.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

   I will be exalted among the nations,

   I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 46:10

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18

Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 9:10

Blessed are those who keep his statutes

   and seek him with all their heart –

they do no wrong

   but follow his ways.

Psalm 119:2-3

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,

   to the one who seeks him;

it is good to wait quietly

   for the salvation of the LORD.

Lamentations 3:25-26

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Matthew 7:7-8

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Hebrews 11:6