The Christmas season is a time to reflect on the greatest gift to humanity: the birth of Jesus Christ. God Himself would walk among us. The event was foretold almost 1,400 years before. Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like Me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to Him.”
Centuries later, the prophet Isaiah would write in Isaiah 7:14, “All right then, the Lord Himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a Child! She will give birth to a Son and will call Him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”
Fast forward to just months before His birth. An angel tells the virgin, Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).”
In a separate conversation – a dream encounter – with her distraught fiancé, Joseph, after hearing the news, the angel reassures him, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the Child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a Son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:20-21).”
The celebration of His momentous arrival brings family and friends together every year. To follow His lead of love and self-sacrifice, we gather together for fellowship, and the customary centerpiece is a feast of culinary delights.
The consumption of good food and togetherness fills the belly and satisfies the soul, giving credence to the phrase, “There’s no place like home”. This timeless adage reminds me of what Solomon wrote in Proverbs 27:7, “A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.” That is to say when a person gets everything they need from home, there’s no need to look elsewhere.
However, the starving soul, desperate for validation and blind to reason, will resort to devouring “trash”. Sounds gross, doesn’t it? But, Jesus has an enemy (and our foe as well) who’s a master of disguise and can make himself look like an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). How might he distort the garbage’s appearance to tantalize someone’s appetite?
Recently, I had a conversation with a woman who recounted (and permitted me to write about) her lack of “nourishment” and how it led her to unsavory choices. She told me about a life-altering exchange as a teenager with her father. In a fit of rage during a family feud, he hurled at her a barrage of insults and expletives which culminated with, “You’re a big disappointment to me!”
Stay on that piercing declaration for a moment. A young lady hears from the first man in her life she is a disappointment to him. She doesn’t meet his expectations. It pushed her over the edge and into a life of sexual promiscuity — a type of the “bitter food” Solomon speaks of.
Three men and three children after, she realized she attempted to find the love and acceptance she missed from her father. She subjected herself to harsh treatment from men and labeled it as “masculinity”. She has since come to Jesus, and He has given her a healthy esteem and sense of self-worth. The love she felt from Him gave her the courage to convey to her father how he hurt her, to forgive him, and restore their relationship.
As a father myself, and dwelling on my friend’s experience, I can’t help but think of my relationship with my teenage daughter. With nearly a decade and a half of experience, parenting for me is still on-the-job training. I need God’s wisdom every day. I’m grateful for His promise in James 1:5, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.”
I play a pivotal role in shaping my daughter’s view of men and ultimately of God. She must see His character in me. Before every conversation with her, I think of Ephesians 6:4, and I love the Amplified Bible’s translation, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them], but bring them up [tenderly, with lovingkindness] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
While she’s under my care, God holds me accountable to provide a daily diet of acceptance, compassion, encouragement, and motivation. It’s my goal to bond closer to my daughter so she will never develop a craving for “strange fruit”.
Jesus, my example, came to bond with His creation. The “Word” became flesh to repair the breach between us and act as the only Mediator between heaven and earth (John 1:14, 1 Timothy 2:5-6). He’s calling the wayward parent and wayward child into a relationship with Himself and each other.
Christ says of Himself in John 6:35, “I am the Bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.” He’s prepared a banqueting table where love is always the main course.
May we all come to Him and satiate our souls. I pray we all come “home” for Christmas.
Sources:
Scripture: Deuteronomy 18:15
Scripture: Isaiah 7:14
Scripture: Luke 1:35
Scripture: Matthew 1:20-21
Scripture: Proverbs 27:7
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 11:14
Scripture: James 1:5
Scripture: Ephesians 6:4 (Amplified Bible)
Scripture: John 1:14
Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:5-6
Scripture: John 6:35
*Scripture references are from the New Living Translation except where noted. Their links go to bible.com, courtesy of YouVersion, makers of the Bible App available for iOS and Android devices.
