I’m not trying to win the approval of people,
but of God. If pleasing people were my goal,
I would not be Christ’s servant. Galatians 1:10, NLT
Now is the time of God’s favor. 2 Corinthians 6:2
God has been trying to get His message to us for generations. It is an earthquake of great Truth. It is our heart’s tsunami that washes away everything we do not need so that we may know who we are and Whose we are.
Don’t try to water this great cosmic act down to some sweet story with beautiful music.
Each Christmas we have another chance to get it right. God’s message is simple: God favors us. He really does. He sent a love-message to us in the form of Jesus. He favored us and not just us as in the whole world. God favored us in a decisive act of unfailing love.
God wrapped our salvation in a baby we could fall in love with. He grew Him into a Truth-teller like the world had never known. He sacrificed him to death on a cross without a rescue team so that we could be rescued. He didn’t do it for the angels who make worship their only way of relating to God. He didn’t do it for creation who only knows how to share their beauty and complexities without complaint. No. He did it for us because He favors us.
Has something been extra hard or unfair for you? God favors you. Don’t bury this message under the brokenness and injustices this world shares. Look for God’s loving favor for you in the Christmas story. Find yourself stunned in the middle of routine as God calls you, His favorite.
Every year of Christmas until Jesus comes again is “Now” for us. We don’t need to wait for His favor, nor can we earn it. We can only accept it. Christmas is our chance to hear God’s message again: He likes us. He likes us more than we like ourselves. And all He wants in return is our life, so He can keep filling it with His favor.
How will you return His favor?
