When October rolls around, not only do I see Halloween costumes and candy, but I begin to see Christmas items creeping on the shelves. Around the 31st, turkeys, pilgrims, and cranberries are making an appearance, and Christmas stuff is sprinting to the shelves. Now, don’t get me wrong – I love this time of year. Celebrating Thanksgiving, putting up the Christmas tree and decorating, baking lots of sweet treats to give away – these are some of the things that I love about this time of year.
But, I want my focus to be on bigger things than this.
Last year, I embarked on reading the Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis. All 7 books. A magnificent and inspirational read. Lewis wove a beautiful yarn about the journey of a group of children to magical worlds. Intertwined throughout these stories is the Truth – the gospel.
In the final book, The Last Battle, the end chapters focus on the characters going into an ominous stable. Peter tells Tirian to peek between two planks and see inside:
He looked round again and could hardly believe his eyes. There was the blue sky overhead, and grassy country spreading as far as he could see in every direction, and his new friends all round him, laughing.
“It seems, then,” said Tirian, smiling himself, “that the Stable seen from within and the Stable seen from without are two different places.
“Yes,” said the Lord Digory. “Its inside is bigger than its outside”
“Yes,” said Queen Lucy. “In our world too, a Stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.”
Yes, Queen Lucy. Bigger than our whole world. Jesus. Immanuel – God with us.
Let us go back to that night that a stable became something bigger. Long night traveling. No rooms available. Tired and weary, they may not have thought it was the best place, but they were appreciative of the offer and took it. I am sure Joseph and Mary were planning on being asleep in 2 minutes, but God had other plans.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
That unimportant stable became the place where this prophecy and others became reality. An unlikely place for God to begin his journey with us as Jesus. But that night so long ago was bigger than our whole world – it changed our world. And gave us hope.
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21
Bigger than our whole world. That is what God was thinking that night. And 33 years later, more prophecies were fulfilled so that when we believe that Jesus is our savior, we might become the righteousness of God.
That is so big, I can hardly believe it or understand it. That’s God’s grace. Jesus exchanged our sin for his righteousness. Because God’s love for us is that big.
So, as we go throughout the seasons buying gifts, baking cookies, running errands, juggling all that we have to do, let us be mindful that from the very beginning, God had a big plan in mind so that we would one day be able to spend eternity with Him.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this Christmas season that we can focus on Jesus – the real reason for this season. Let us be ambassadors for you and be open to sharing what Christ did on our behalf – because he loved us. Help us to be bold and courageous to do this. Fill us with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to give you all the glory and praise. Amen.
