You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
INTRODUCTION<br />
A couple of years ago, I spoke at a Christmas luncheon in Arizona. The theme of the event was:<br />
The Greatest Gift. The message was well-planned. It involved an object lesson, in which I<br />
opened a wrapped present with “baby <strong>Jesus</strong>” inside. I envisioned my microphone would be a<br />
lapel, or an over the ear mic. I assumed I’d have a podium for my Bible, and since I don’t use<br />
notes, my hands would be free. At just the right time, I’d open the gift, my introduction would be<br />
complete, and I’d have them all in the palm of my hands. However, the stage set up wasn’t so<br />
simple. The mic was a hand-held, and there was no podium. Trying to balance everything was<br />
difficult at best. The result was catastrophic. I.DrOpPeD.<strong>Baby</strong>.JeSuS! <strong>Dropped</strong> Him! It went from<br />
bad to worse. I felt that I had completely bungled the message. It was just one little incident from<br />
which I struggled to recover. The Lord used it, however, and it became the theme of another<br />
Christmas luncheon in another town for another group of women.<br />
It’s easy to do, you know. It’s easy to drop baby <strong>Jesus</strong>. Right in the middle of all our<br />
preparations for one of the holiest seasons, it is not<br />
uncommon for us to let Him fall. I do it. Sometimes, I get so<br />
wrapped up in wrapping up the trimmings, and the<br />
packages, and the cooking, that <strong>Jesus</strong> simply gets<br />
forgotten…dropped (period).<br />
That’s the purpose in this short little devotional. The last<br />
Sunday in November is generally the start of Advent.<br />
Celebrating Advent is optional. It’s simply a tradition that<br />
developed over the course of the church’s history as a<br />
season to prepare for the coming (which is what the Latin<br />
word, adventus means: the coming). I’m opting to<br />
celebrate this Advent season, not with a calendar-watching<br />
activity, but with a soul-searching, hopeful-expectation of<br />
“hanging onto <strong>Jesus</strong>” until the day-of-his-birth-celebration.<br />
This devotional is my attempt at not dropping him this year.<br />
If you’ve downloaded this for that purpose - thanks for<br />
joining me!<br />
4