God is as Approachable as a Baby
December 17, 2009

Since Jesus came to reveal God to us, author Phil Yancey asks if we've ever wondered what we learn about God from the first Christmas? Not a bad question to throw around with your family and friends.

If a visiting dignitary, military officer or business mogul visited a country they would expect lodging in a five star hotel. But when God clothed himself in flesh, the King of creation chose a bed of straw in a stable. Jesus could have come riding on a bolt of lightning or surrounded by a flaming tornado. The sky could have literally cracked open and he could have stepped through. Instead, God came as a tiny infant who could not control his bladder, feed himself, lift his head off the straw or guard himself from danger. He could have been stepped on by a donkey or crushed by an ox. Jesus' well-being rested in the hands of two Jewish teenagers. Such an entry into the world demonstrates divine humility.

Paul noted this when he wrote, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness" (Philippians 2:5-7).

I can't help but wonder why God demonstrated such humility. And then I realize he wants us to know that he's approachable. For years we lived in a house with a deck off our bedroom. My writing desk sat just inside the sliding glass door and I used to feed some squirrels. Over time one of them felt safe enough to eat from my hand. Suppose I wanted to get even closer to the squirrels than that. For that to happen I would have to become a squirrel myself. That would be an incomprehensible step which no man would take, even if he could. Yet, the step down I would take in becoming a squirrel would pale when compared to the step God took in becoming a baby.

Babies are approachable. When a mother pushes a crib in a shopping mall, strangers will gather around to coo and caress the baby. At Christmas, when we see images of baby Jesus in a manger, we too want to draw close. We want to touch him.

This Christmas, as you contemplate the birth of Jesus--take a step closer to God. You're safe with him. As safe as with a baby.