The Fight Over Baby Jesus

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. John 1:1-2 (NIV)

My children were playing happily together in the living room while I was cleaning up the breakfast dishes. As I poured powdered detergent, complete with a lemony fresh scent, into my dishwasher, a loud scream startled me.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You are not suppose to put Baby Jesus in your mouth. Give him back.â€

Thus ended the playing happily portion of this story.

My nearly five-year-old daughter had taken baby Jesus from our Christmas crèche to show her 20-month-old little brother, who was cutting some molars and decided that the ceramic baby would nicely substitute as a teething ring.

After rescuing baby Jesus from the jaws of my toddler, I thought about the irony wrapped around the situation. My children were fighting over Jesus. They both wanted Him. One wanted to hold Him and sing praises and the other wanted His comfort.

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:9-10 NIV

I’m so thankful that I do not need to fight for Jesus’ love. I don’t have to compete with others for His time or attention…and I am never ever denied the comfort that only He can provide. The beauty of Christmas comes in knowing that Jesus descending from His throne in Heaven to live and die as a man so that the gift of eternal life could be offered to everyone.