Jesus Chose A Baby

6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.(Luke 2:6)

Sometimes the most exquisite things remain hidden, like pearls. Pearls are formed in oysters, away from the human eye. Irritants enter the oyster and the pearl coats the irritant slowly as it tries to rid itself of the irritant. Slowly, over time, a beautiful pearl is formed.

The birth of Jesus was insignificant to most of those in Bethlehem that night. On a starry night, the King of Kings was born and laid in a manger where animals were kept.  To many, his birth might seem insignificant, but as Christians, we know the beauty was found in his arrival as an infant. He did not choose to come as a man, a king, or in some impressive fashion. No, he came as a vulnerable baby.

It is a reminder to us to value the small, the lame, the infants in our lives. For we know that spiritual formation begins with how we treat the small baby. Spiritual formation begins with inconsequential things, with small things; the crying baby, the dishes being washed, the laundry folded, or caring for a downtrodden friend,

God, in the likeness of man, came down to earth as an infant, to show us that He, too would live the full human experience. He too, came to earth where he had to make choices to let the small irritants change him for good or for worse. He too, understood that in the hiddenness of our homes, lonely seasons, motherhood, or dark winters, the small irritants known by the common man could either lead to bitterness or shape us into gleaming pearls.

So, if this Christmas you are feeling “insignificant,” remember who your Savior is.  He is a God chose to have the full human experience, a God who would choose to be born in a manger, to an unwed mother on a starry night-fully human and fully God, the importance of which was hidden from the human eye.