She Knew to Kneel

Today is Jesus' birthday!  I wonder what it would have been like to have been present at His birth... What would I have done when I came face to face with the Savior in the manger?  What gift would I have laid before the King?

This Christmas the LORD gave me a tiny glimpse of the Baby in the manger through fresh eyes.  My family and I were at the church preparing the set for the Christmas Eve drama production.  A friend of my husband's came by the church to help with the construction.  His two little children came with him.  They don't attend any church, nor have the children had any spiritual upbringing but the most profound thing happened... When they entered the sanctuary, the father pointed to the nativity scene and told his tiny daughter (about 2 years old) that this was Baby Jesus lying in the manger.  "Sissy" quietly approached the manger and without a word, she knelt down on her knees and silently peered at the doll that represented Jesus.  She didn't reach out for him or remove him from the manger.  Instead, she gently folder her hands and gazed in wonder! 

How awesome!  I was speechless.  How did this little one know that there was something special about this baby in the manger?  How did she know to bend the knee?  What filled her with awe?

Jesus did.  Somehow, I think that these tiny children - so freshly knit together by the LORD Himself... so untainted by the fallen world - remember something that we all too often forget... that the Baby laid in a manger was God Himself.  He was and is the King of kings and the Lord of lords and there is no more appropriate response than to reverently approach Him, bow our knees and adore Him.  May I do precisely that today - and always!

But Jesus asked the children to come to him. "Let the little children come to me," he said. "Don't keep them away. God's kingdom belongs to people like them. What I'm about to tell you is true. Anyone who will not receive God's kingdom like a little child will never enter it."  (Luke 18:16-17)

Father, help me to have eyes like this child.  Help me not to forget the wonder of the Baby's birth - fully God yet fully man... Help me never to lose sight that Jesus came to earth for the purpose of saving me from the penalty of my sin.  May I too reverently and humbly bow before You.  May I be full of awe and wonder and may I always affectionately express my love and gratitude for the awesome gift of salvation that You freely offered me.  Thank You for the priceless gift, Jesus!  It's perfect!