we love display baby Jesus

This Christmas season Julia and I have had a great opportunity to visit many different Christmas Markets. Each one is unique from the other and they all are very beautiful, each are lit up at night with lights and have either bands or choirs singing out Christmas songs. As you walk through the markets you get the smell of roasting nuts, deep fried food, and wurst. You walk through each row and look at each booth to see what unnecessary good they are trying to sell and by the end of the night realize you have no more money. While walking through this last one in Stuttgart, I saw a booth that was selling all of their baby Jesus’ and “religious things”. As a Christmas song was sung in the background a thought stuck to my mind that had been resonating this whole Christmas season, everyone loves the idea of “display baby Jesus” because he doesn’t say much and we can do what we want with him, but not too many people likes the “real Jesus” that is talked about in Scripture. People don’t love Bible Jesus because he changes your life and says hard things to stomach like deny yourself and live for His glory even through the good times and hardships. We sometimes like to fit Jesus into our own man made profiles and not scriptures profile. It breaks my heart for those who may know everything about Christmas and Easter Jesus, but do not know Him for their salvation and life transformation. What a kind shepherd He is, who laid down his life that we may have life in Him. I can easily forget about what He has taken me from and what grace He has put me into. May we see Jesus through scripture and not some man made ideas.