Merry Christmas to you! What does a broken-down chair on the beach have to do with Christmas? Everything.
When I saw this dilapidated chair on the beach months ago, I instantly thought of Christmas. Here’s why:
- In part, because my ministry encourages people to carve out time to sit with God and cultivate a deeper relationship with Him. It is in my own prayer chair that God changed everything about my heart, mind and life. I used to think I had to have it all together to enter into God’s presence. Nothing could be further from the truth. Now I bring Him all my brokenness and He makes me whole. We can approach Him with our fragile, flawed, battered and broken selves. It’s a “come as you are” invitation that never ends.
- In part, because my first thought on the beach was, “The owner should just throw this one away and get a new one.” Scripture records, “The wages of sin is death.” We are all disqualified by birth. We are all disqualified by the Law. Instead of throwing us away in our sin, Jesus Christ came to rescue, restore and redeem us. Through Him we are made new.
- In part, because the chair on the beach clearly had been neglected and possibly abandoned. It represents me when I neglect to cleanse my heart and renew my mind – I can quickly become a mess if I neglect practicing His presence to many days in a row.
That’s a lot of parts so I snapped a photo. But here’s the biggest message of all I found hidden in the broken-down chair:
Does your family tree include any prostitutes? How about multiple murderers? Any adulterers, evil leaders, incessant liars or deceivers? Check out the first chapter of the first Gospel. The book of Matthew traces the ancestry of Jesus all the way back to Abraham. THE LINEAGE OF JESUS CHRIST INCLUDES ALL OF THESE BROKEN, SHADY, MESSED UP PEOPLE. AND THAT’S THE POINT OF CHRISTMAS.
JESUS CHRIST CAME TO EARTH AS “GOD IN A BOD” TO SAVE BROKEN PEOPLE. AND THAT’S PRECISELY THE POINT OF CHRISTMAS.
In the Old Testament Isaiah 61:1-3 predicts Jesus will come to “bind up the brokenhearted…proclaim freedom for captives…comfort all who mourn…give beauty instead of ashes…gladness instead of mourning…a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. And all will be for the display of His splendor.” Later in the New Testament, in Luke 4:21, Jesus himself quoted Isaiah when he spoke these words, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Today in your life this Scripture can be fulfilled when you seek out the One who came to this earth to save you.
Christmas puts an exclamation mark on Isaiah’s prophecy. Jesus didn’t come for the glamorous people who appear to have it all together and all figured out. That’s a twisted, false idea held by many religious people. If Jesus came for the glamorous people who have it all together he would have been born at the Bethlehem Ritz-Carlton. Instead our Savior was born in a broken-down filthy stable. Don’t miss the message of Christ’s delivery room. Allow Him to deliver you from your brokenness.
MAY YOU CHERISH THE CHRIST CHILD, THE ROCK ETERNAL, THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON. MAY YOU ENTER INTO HIS PRESENCE AND BE MADE WHOLE.
