Christmas Day – When God says ‘Same!’

The Nativity shows how close God wants be to us, say the Ignite Team in their Christmas blog post.

I don’t know how many of you have ever fallen in love but, if you have, you’ll notice that it makes you change a bit. You start to become interested in the same things as the other person. You want to be around them and you even, sometimes, want to be like them.

In fact, we’re a bit like this with our friends too. We often like to have at least something in common with them, whether it’s a favourite Netflix show or that one debate you always take the same side on. Those little moments where you can just turn to the other person and say ‘Same!’ or ‘That happened to me too!’.

You may be asking what this has got to do with Christmas.

Christmas is the day when God, because he loves us so deeply and wants to be so close to us, decided to get as much in common with us as he possibly could. He became a human baby, just like you and I once were. God wanted to draw near to us and chose to become just like us – all so he could show his love for us. Jesus did all the things we do: he cried, laughed, suffered, chatted, worked and prayed. As the Bible says: he was like us in everything apart from the fact that he didn’t sin (Hebrews: 4:14). This means that Jesus knows what it’s like to be you, not just because God knows everything, but because he’s been there – he lived a human life here on earth.

So as you look at the Nativity scene this Christmas, at church or at home, look at that little baby who didn’t have to be there but chose to. Who chose to be there because he loves you and wants to be as close to you as he can. The little baby who is God and who, when you say ‘I’ve been hurt’ or ‘I’m so happy’, can turn to you in reply and say ‘Same!’ or ‘That happened to me too!’.

Why not trust Jesus today with all the good stuff and the bad stuff from your life? He knows what it’s like because he’s human just like us. But he’s also God, which means he can help you far more than anyone else can. And that’s a pretty decent Christmas present if you ask me.

The Ignite blog will return with fortnightly posts in the New Year.

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