“IS THE BABE STILL IN THE MANGER?”
Luke 2

At this time of the year all over the world there is a commercial emphasis on Christmas tempting people to buy a lot of useless and unnecessary things. As far as Christmas decorations are concerned, one trade magazine says that nativity scenes are the popular choice of decoration, outselling those of Santa Claus.

As I read that article I could not help but ask, " Why is this so?” When you read the statistics of the number who attend church and see that more and more churches are closing because of lack of support and attendance, why then this sudden interest in the nativity ornaments?

The question that keeps coming to my mind concerning these people caught up in this trend, "Is it the appeal of the babe in the manger and nothing more?" For them is the Babe still in the manger? Is this all that Christmas means to them?

We sing ‘Away in a Manger’, but so many do not go much further in their thought processes than the manger. There are those who, because of the turmoil in the world, grasp at this small fragment of the angels' message when they sang about ‘peace on earth’. They just see the Babe as a symbol of that peace -- peace they desire to be established in the world -- missing the fact that peace can only come through accepting the complete message -- a Savior, not a military leader. No ordinary man – no matter how he tries -- can bring peace to the world. The only One who can bring true peace on earth is the Babe – the Christ Child. By His coming, His life, death and resurrection, He is the only One who can forgive sin and give His peace as a result of a right relationship with God.

When we continue to keep the Babe in the manger and fail to allow Him to grow and accomplish the task for which He came, we will never know His peace in our hearts and lives.

A couple of years ago people were saying, ‘Put Christ back into Christmas’. I wonder if this sudden desire to purchase nativity scenes is not an outcome of that slogan. Perhaps they see this as a means of doing just that, yet missing the whole point. In reality those who began the saying, ‘let us celebrate the true meaning of Christmas' - did not want us to forget why He was born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger so long ago.

Do we only think of the manger scene for just one month of the year and as soon as the Christmas season is over, pack it up and put it away for another year along with all thoughts of the real meaning of Christmas?

Let me ask you, “Is the Babe still in the manger”? Do we only think of the Christ Child as a Babe in the manger and leave the thought of Him there? Or in our hearts and minds do we allow Him to grow into manhood so that He can accomplish the task that God the Father had planned for our Salvation?

When Mary was first visited by the angel Gabriel, he said unto her, “You shall have a Son, and shall call His name Jesus…He…shall be called the Son of the Highest". Later when the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream concerning Mary and the child she was carrying said that he was not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. The angel said, “Thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins”.

God never intended that His Son, the Babe, should remain in the manger. Unfortunately too many are continuing to do just that.

As we approach this Christmas, it is my prayer that each one will think afresh on the true significance of the coming of the Christ Child.

Do we truly believe in our hearts that He was born as the angel said to Joseph, “to save His people from their sins’, or as told by the angels to the shepherds, “For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”?

If you have any doubts concerning what the Christ Child means to you, come, bow down and worship Him. He will reveal Himself, not just as the Babe of Bethlehem, but as the Saviour for all who will truly believe that He is Immanuel – God with us -- the Savior of the world.

May the Christ of Christmas rule and reign in your heart, filling it anew with the glory and wonder of His coming.