Step away from Christmas.
No. Really. Put the decorations and the cards and the plans and the preparations down, step back, and take a deep breath. Tune out and let yourself relax, because sometimes we just need to step away from Christmas in order to really see it.
The Christmas story is as familiar to us as the back of our hand. We’ve read about the trip Joseph and Mary had to make, we know the precise moment when the angels appear to the shepherds, and we can recite verse and chapter about the birth of Jesus without missing a beat. And yet, due to its familiarity, often we miss the Glory in the story.
When the angels declared “Glory to God in the highest” they weren’t just talking about the helpless baby in the manger, but they were singing about the adult Jesus, the only son of God, who would one day take away our sins.
Philippians 2:7 says this, “…but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”
When we view the Christmas story through the lens of that verse how can we not stand around and gawk in awe like the shepherds? I mean, just think about it. Jesus left heaven to become a man like us, He swapped His Glory for the cross. His short life was given so that one day we could experience that Glory with Him.
In the busy-ness of this holiday season it can be so easy to take the Glory of Christmas for granted, but our response should be just like the shepherds who dropped everything to experience the Glory of the story for themselves.