Come and See for Yourself!

At Christmas time, we do all sorts of things we don't do during the rest of the year: we decorate trees, we decorate our houses, we put up lights...and it's all done to get people's attention. The rest of the year, our houses would look ordinary. Without lights, a tree would just be a tree - after a while, you wouldn't even notice it at all.

The night Jesus was born, he was just another baby. There was nothing special about him on the outside. There were probably lots of other babies born that night. So God did some things he wouldn't normally do, to get our attention.

In the sky, he put a new star, shining right over the place where Jesus was born. And he sent a messenger, an angel, who appeared to the shepherds to announce Jesus' birth. And then, not one angel, but a host of them, singing praises to God for what he had done. The day you were born, your parents were probably pretty excited: they probably made some phone calls, they probably sent some pictures; but God used angels.

And then, the shepherds said, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

This Christmas, and every Christmas, God invites you to come and see for yourself. And to do what the shepherds did - which is that after they went to Bethlehem and saw the little king in his bed, the most important person who was ever born - they went back and told everyone what they had seen and heard.

That's the most important thing! What a shame if the shepherds had looked at each other and just said, "Whoa - did you see those angels?!? That was so cool! I hope they come again next year!" What a loss if the shepherds had only said, "That song they sang - that was great! I've gotta buy that on iTunes!" but not gone to Bethlehem to see. They would have missed out on the most important thing!

No - at Christmas, God invites you to come and see for yourself. Be attracted by the lights; be enchanted by the decorations; be in love with the music and the food - but don't stop there! All of these things are meant to get our attention. It's God's way of saying, "Something great has happened here! Come and see for yourself!"

Jesus was born, and he lived. What does it mean? And where are you in that story?

Christmas is a yearly invitation, from God to you: Come and see for yourself.