I Dropped Baby Jesus

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