Last year two men were standing at Michigan Avenue and Delaware Place in Chicago during the Christmas rush, waiting for the red light to change.
One of the men was very irritated by all the traffic and no room to even walk on the sidewalk. “This city is totally disorganized,” he growled. “Look at all the cars….and people have to advance their walking on the street. It’s terrible! Something ought to be done about this.”
The other man became philosophical. Thoughtfully he responded, “You know, it’s astounding, the romance of it! There was a baby born of peasant parents to an unwed mother in a little out-of-the-way town halfway around the world from here. The parents had no money or social standing. Yet 2,000 years later that little baby creates a people-jam on Michigan Avenue, one of the most sophisticated streets in the world. This frustrates you? It should fascinate you!”
It should fascinate all of us, no matter what our circumstances are this Christmas due to the pandemic. We may be all alone or just be blessed with a couple of dear people near to us. Imagine how distressed and overwrought Mary and Joseph felt searching for a spot to deliver a baby. And they had God not only on their side, but Baby Jesus sucking his thumb inside of Mary and waiting to be born.
It should fascinate us! Over half the people on earth today believe and dedicate their lives and their eternity to him. When we consider how God broke into human history and became one with us, is it a wonder that the whole world seems to be singing Christmas carols despite a universal pandemic?
Which of the two men above do you resemble this Christmas? The Bah Humbug man? Or the man who is so fascinated and grateful for the wonder of what God has created in his heart this Christmas?
PUT JESUS FIRST THIS CHRISTMAS AND YOU’LL NEVER BE LAST!
