"And
this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths,
lying in a manger." (Luke
2:12)
When
God sent Jesus Christ as a gift to the world, He didn't want anyone to miss
it. So He gave signs to confirm Christ's
birth. One sign was that the baby would
be born in a manger.
A
manger is literally a feeding trough for beasts. This was Jesus' first bed, a place where
pigs, cows, horses, and sheep were fed.
Jesus didn't have a nice oak crib with a Simmons Beautyrest
mattress. No, He slept in a stone
trough, the kind used in Palestine at that time. His first resting place was a cold, hard,
dirty manger. The angel gave a very
specific sign to help the shepherds identify their Messiah. Not many babies have an animal feeding trough
for their first crib! I don't know of
any, besides Jesus.
The
manger has spiritual significance because it illustrates Jesus' purpose in
coming to earth. Our hearts can be just
like that feeding trough―unclean and oftentimes cold and hard like
stone. Even so, our spiritual hearts
hunger to know God.
Human
hearts are not only unclean, but often beastly.
We have a fallen and sinful nature, but that's why Jesus came. God the Son became a man to die for our sins
and bring forgiveness and new life with God.
When we repent of our sin and receive Jesus Christ, we discover the
greatest Christmas gift of all: God's love.
Oh, how restless and disquieted our hearts can be without Christ!
Augustine
said, "Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till
they find rest in Thee."
Jesus
said, "Come to Me, all you who labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Your heart, like that manger, can be a place
of rest with Jesus.
(Sent
by permission from Pastor Wayne Taylor; info@calvaryfellowship.org)
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