HSBC Coffeebreak

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" — which means, "God with us.”
Matthew 1:23 NIV

So much of what we do during the Christmas season turns our attention away from Jesus, instead of towards him. Today I got out my nativity scene, and as my young daughters set it up, I was reminded again of the continual problem I had last year. The scene of Joseph, Mary, Jesus, the wise men, and shepherds looks best when you can see all their faces. But every time I set the scene up that way and leave, on my return, I find all the shepherds and wise men turned with their backs facing out, bunched up around the manger.

Reasoning with my daughters doesn’t do a lot of good, and this year, I find myself reluctant to do it anyway. To a six-year-old, four-year-old, and two-year-old, it’s very simple to determine what is important. Jesus is who everyone came to see. Jesus is the whole point, the central focus, the main attraction! Why would anyone want to look anywhere else? Why would the shepherds and the wise men travel so far, only to turn their backs on the One they came to see?

The God of the Universe humbled himself, became a man, and dwelt among us! What else in all the world is worthy of taking our attention from that?

Written by
Melody Anderson