“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 (NLT)
A Fresh Look
Each figure is now carefully wrapped and packed away. There was a moment though, that I considered leaving my Nativity Scene out for the year. I love its simple beauty and the sense of peace it brings to the room (and to me). As I lingered with Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, and the rest, I began to question if with time, the things that make the Nativity special might begin to disappear? Would passing it day in and day out blind me to its significance? Is it possible that the scene that means so much, could become commonplace, simply blending in with the other decorations around it? The decision became clear. I put it away so that when I open the box next year, I’ll get a fresh look, piece by piece, at the familiar display of God’s love .
As often happens when lingering, I began to wonder. Has Jesus Himself become commonplace in my life, blending in with everything around me? Because He’s near day in and day out, am I failing to recognize the magnitude of all He’s done and is doing? Is my excitement for being a Christian neatly packed away where others can’t see it, only to come out with the Christmas decorations? I’m not sure I want to answer these questions. How about You?
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
Revelation 3:15-16 (NIV)
Something we tend to have in common is how easily we can get so wrapped up in our own lives that we lose sight of our life in Christ. That’s when our “deeds” become tepid at best. Some translations of the above verse say, “–I am about to vomit you out of my mouth.” I think we can all agree that spitting and vomiting are not the reactions we want others, and especially God, to have to us! So, how do we turn up our temperatures?
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:9-11 (NIV)
The simple beauty of the Nativity reminds us of God’s gift of love, but I think by taking a fresh look, we can also use it, piece by piece, to help us display that love to others. May we remember to be like:
Joseph, who was devoted,
Mary, having sincere love,
The Wisemen, honoring another above themselves,
The Shepherds, who served their masters,
The Angel, sharing spiritual fervor and zeal,
All the while, like those in the stable long ago,
keeping our attention on the One at the center of it all,
Jesus.
“Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 (NLT)
This post was written to the prompt “Fresh” that was shared at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com Many others have joined in and you can read their offerings by clicking the link! Who knows? You might even get a fresh perspective on things! If you are reading this, I want you to know how much it means to me that you are here and I pray you leave encouraged.
Your nativity set is beautiful, Cindy! I can see why you wanted to keep it up, but I also love the idea of bringing it out each year and seeing it afresh. And I love the reminder that we should never fall into allowing Jesus to be commonplace in our lives, but that we need to keep that freshness in our relationship with him.
Cindy, I love your nativity. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful post. Blessings.
oh, it is such a lovely nativity scene! It’s so true, we can allow Jesus to become commonplace. Our bibles can become additions to our bookshelves. Just this year, I’ve decided to leave my Bible and journal laid out on the dining table so that I’m required to look at them every day. It’s been pretty effective too! Naptime for my girls equals quiet time for me- it’s so refreshing to be able to spend time with Jesus intentionally.
Blessings to you, Cindy!
miccah
We have something in common Micah, I have my Bibles on the dining room table too! Like you, I find it helps me remember to stop and take time to be in the Word. My little ones are now in their thirties but I have to still quiet the things that take my attention so easily from my time at the table. Thank you so much for taking time from your busy day to comment. It means a lot to me!
Beautiful…it takes intentionality to keep Christ in the forefront of our lives and not become complacent. Your nativity scene is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.
I love my Nativity too, Lezlie and even better, I purchased in memory of my grandpa! Intentional is exactly what we need to be. Something I need to be reminded of from time to time! Thank you so much for stopping in.
Many times I want to leave a comment on one of your posts, but unlike other people’s posts where you can just post a comment, yours requires that a person create an account, etc., to be able to do so, and I wind up just liking it and not leaving a comment because I don’t want to have to create an account. But today, I was on a different computer, and for some reason I was able to get through using Google. So for all the posts I did not leave comments on, just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy reading them.
(Visiting from #46
Sandra I’m so sorry you’ve had trouble with my site. I’m not savvy enough to pinpoint what’s wrong now but will certainly look into it. I never set it up to require an account. At least I don’t think I did. I so appreciate your kind words. And thanks for letting me know you’ve been trying. God bless!