1004 | Getting Our House in Order
If you need to get your house in order, have a baby!
Well, that’s extreme. But I remember anticipating the arrival of our first child. Our house was transformed. Anything dirty, got washed. Everything broken, finally got fixed. Creepy crawlies were “taken out.” And all things fitting for a new baby were welcomed in. As a parent, I was compelled to set things right, which included setting some things aside, so our baby daughter could take her place as a new child in our family.
Maybe you can relate to this experience. Or maybe you relate to Mary and Joseph’s experience as they anticipated the birth of Jesus. Imagine not being able to provide a proper place for their baby. In fact, Jesus had to enter our world in the muck and mire of a dank and dark stable while sleeping in a manger. Spiritually, I’m sure we can all identify with that. Nobody can provide a fitting place for the arrival of God’s own Son.
Yet, here we are on Advent, celebrating and anticipating the arrival of Jesus. In this celebration, we are reminded once again of the Father’s amazing love. God doesn’t wait until we get our spiritual house in order before giving us the precious gift of his Son. In fact, as we receive his precious gift, we find him wrapped with the gift of sanctification.
That’s a theological word that means being set right and set apart. In other words, “He gets our house in order.”
In his love for us, the Father chose to set us apart for himself – so we could become his beloved children. In Jesus’ birth, we are the babies the Father is preparing a place for. This is his will. Listen to how the author of Hebrews puts it.
And by that will, we have been made holy, through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)
This sacrifice is the perfect “once for all” offering given to us in Jesus’ birth, and finalized in his death. It’s the whole life of Christ that brings us to a life of wholeness in him. He set everything right for our arrival.
So, if you are feeling like your house is “not in order” for Christmas, you really don’t need to have a baby. Jesus was born so the Father could have you.
I’m Jeff Broadnax, Speaking of Life.
