Looking for Jesus this Holiday Season

It wasn’t just that he wasn’t where he was supposed to be, he wasn’t there at all. I used to live in Latin America for a decade (full-time mission work), and it took me years to clue into the fact that almost everywhere I looked, and in every nativity that I spied with my little eye…..Jesus, the birthday boy himself, was missing. The camels were there, llamas too (I mean, we lived in Peru, so why not put a llama in the nativity, right?) The wise men were present, Mary, Joseph even the manger itself…..but no Jesus. Why was he missing?!? As the sheepish foreigner, I finally got the nerve up to ask someone and I found the answer intriguing. Jesus comes on Noche Buena, or Christmas Eve. The tradition where we lived in Peru went something like this: on Noche Buena, shortly before midnight fireworks were set off for almost an hour before Christmas Day. Colors, lights and celebration fill the sky as fireworks hiss, stream and illuminate the night. The heavens looked breathtaking, and I couldn’t help but think it’s a fantastic way to welcome and celebrate Jesus coming into the world. On Noche Buena, Jesus is then placed in the manger and left there until the nativities are taken down sometime after the New Year. But until then, we wait. The empty manger serves as a reminder, of the anticipation that Jesus is coming. 

I’ve thought of this tradition many times this holiday season, but this year there’s a twist- I’ve felt the call to go deeper long before Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Advent or even Noche Buena…The truth is we’re called to an intimacy with God, that he longs to fulfill in us. 

We’re built to long for Jesus. The reason we celebrate that he came is that he made communion possible every day of the year. It’s easy to forget that as much as we are called to pursue, that pursuit, and real relationship is a two way street. A gift that as we long for Jesus, he also longs to be with us. Why else would Emmanuel, God with us, come other than to make a way to atone for our sins in order to be with us? It’s laced all through scripture, but here’s a few of my favorite examples:

“Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come”    Jeremiah 33:3 NLT -God wants to be in conversation with us, for him to reveal things to us. 

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”  2 Chronicles 16:9 NLT He is looking, and seeking people whose hearts are toward him to strengthen them. 

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15 ESV Jesus calls us friends, because he wants friendship with us. 

 “We love each other because he loved us first.”   1 John 4:19 NLT We only know love, because he first loved us. He is the one who instigates love, and demonstrates what real love is.  His love is the heartbeat for the living expression of the Gospel at work in our everyday lives.

So while we anticipate the celebration of Jesus’s birth, as we long for all things to be made right, as we ache for hope in our present challenges and sufferings….remember this: the greatest invitation that this season offers is this: communion with Jesus. 

If you’re at all like me right now…..there’s a lot going on. Family stuff, health stuff, job stuff, financial stuff. I’m just trying to keep my stuff together and struggling to figure out what to do. How can I make things work….or what exactly is the way through? But that’s not the point, Jesus didn’t come just to make a way through, he came to reveal that he himself is the way. So precious friend, I’m reminding you what I need reminding of myself….look for the way, look for Jesus.

More than fireworks in the sky, more than presents under the tree…and more than anything we can give or unwrap the greatest gift of all is extended to us because Jesus walked the earth, and laid down his life for us to spend eternity with him. The wait is over. Truly, God is with us. 

Merry Christmas!

Love, 

Joy 

PS….In case you’re still looking for an encouraging Christmas gift, you can buy/send my book “More of Jesus” here on Amazon.