A HUMBLE STABLE
At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus in a small stable. Sunil James reflects on what this means for us.
The Birth Of Jesus
At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, when people all around the world gather in each other’s houses to enjoy fellowship, food and laughter. It is on this day that we remember that our Saviour was born not in a clean house like ours but in a humble stable. There He was, the Son of God lying in a manger possibly filled with the left-over straw that the cows and horses had eaten for their dinner. He did not have the luxury of a clean hospital where he could be taken care of by medical professionals. No, Christ was born into a dirty world. He was cared for by His own poor mother who gave birth to Him amongst the animals. It was the presence of Jesus that transformed that lowly stable into the palace of the King of Kings and it was there that Jesus was visited by the shepherds (Luke 2:15-20), by angels (Luke 2:13) and by the three wise men (Matthew 2:1-12). That previously unknown dirty stable becomes the dwelling place of the Most Holy One.
An Open Heart
This Christmas let us remember that Christ wants to enter more fully into our messy sinful lives. We need not be perfect, but we need an open heart that welcomes him. When we accept Jesus and He becomes the centre of our lives then we become radiant in His holiness and we are transformed from one degree of glory to the next (2 Corinthians 3:17). This is the time of year when we should once again consecrate ourselves to Our Lord Jesus and invite him into our lives as our personal saviour. Jesus heals us of our wounds and unlike other doctors He can heal us from the inside out. This means that we need to let Jesus into our lives so that He can transform us.
A Clean Sweep
When Christ knocks at our door (Revelation 3:20), He expects us to open our whole house to Him. He doesn’t want to just visit the lounge where everything is clean and tidy. He wants to go to our basements where we have “stuffed” all our issues and things that we cannot deal with. He wants to go under our bed where we have thrown all our dirty laundry. He wants to go underneath the cupboards that we have swept our dirt under. He then wants to bring light into those dark areas. He wants to help clean us out. Jesus can fix our broken hearts, mend our shattered minds and splint our broken souls by the wood of His cross.
Invite Him In
This Christmas, let us invite Jesus into our wounds, our depression and our feelings of isolation. Christ who was born in a lowly stable will be very comfortable in our dirty and messy lives. Jesus loves us and wants to work with us to make us better so that we can have the most perfect Christmas ever. Christmas is a time for faith, hope and love. Christ offers us all three but He offers us His love unconditionally and endlessly. Let us invite Jesus into our dirty stables today and give Him a place to rest His head so that He can transform our lives.
JESUS CAN FIX OUR BROKEN HEARTS, MEND OUR SHATTERED MINDS AND SPLINT OUR BROKEN SOULS BY THE WOOD OF HIS CROSS.
Merry Christmas!
