As the holiday season approaches, how do we “keep it real” this year?  It is so easy to get sidetracked on the meaning of Christmas.  It’s about that tiny baby in the manger and the immeasurable love of God to will all of this to happen knowing that, in the end, Jesus would suffer and die for our sins. 

It reminds me how God’s methodology is so different from ours.  I mean, God is the Creator.  He could have just had Jesus appear as a stranger from the desert or a bright light in the sky.  But our God loves relationship.  He had Jesus show up in the most vulnerable human state there is, unable to talk, relying on those around Him to care for Him.  Seems backward, doesn’t it?  I’m telling you, He is all about relationship.  Why else would He make sure that when Gabriel told Mary about her pregnancy, He would have him mention that her very elderly cousin Elizabeth was also expecting a miraculous birth?  Luke 1:39 tells us that the young Mary “got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea”.  You can probably guess who lived there…her cousin Elizabeth.  God programmed us for relationship. 

Jesus wasn’t just an anonymous lone ranger stranger wandering in and out of towns.  God gave Him an earthly family, and earthly roots.  Our Savior, who was 100% divine and 100% man, had friends and family.  He came from a background that probably many people could understand.  I’ve heard it quoted several times that of all the world religions, ours is the only one where the One we worship actually seeks to pull us into relationship with Him.  He seeks us.  How backward does that seem?  And yet, it is what He is all about - relationship. 

So, I think the answer to my question about how to make Christmas real this year, is to work on my relationships by recommitting all of them to Him.  My relationship with Him, my family, my friends, my neighbors, people I need to reconnect with, people who may have hurt me in the past.  How about you -- any relationships coming to mind?  Let’s get to the heart of this season and lay our relationships down at the foot of the manger, knowing full well that it is the cross that gives us the ability to do that.

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