The first Christmas, God did something extraordinary. In the busyness and excitement of this time of year, we can sometimes forget this and lose the sense of wonder of Christmas. So let’s take a few minutes to reflect on what that first Christmas in Bethlehem really means for us. Jesus gave up His comfort and glory in heaven to come and live in our cruel, cold, harsh world. He gave up His pain-free home, and came to earth in human form, able to experience pain like we do, to be ridiculed by those who didn’t believe in Him, to be betrayed and denied by His closest friends, to be condemned to death by those who, just a few days before, had been welcoming Him as He came through their streets. He left His heavenly Father, was born and laid in a feeding trough, because his earthly parents couldn’t find anywhere else for Him to sleep. He left His throne in heaven and came into our world in the humblest, lowliest way imaginable. And He did it all for us. That’s how much Jesus loves us. He willingly went through all of that, died on the cross, and paid the price for our sins so that we could be saved. It’s impossible to imagine how much love He must feel for us. Paul wrote ‘I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:38-39 NCV). Jesus is the best gift we could possibly have.

What now?

This Christmas, take some time to remember just how much Jesus loves us and what He’s done for us. Thank God for the gift of His Son.