“Emmanuel” – God with us (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23)

“For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?”  Romans 10:13-14

Lord, when you came to earth You gave us a wonderful gift – You gave us the gift of Yourself. And that statement is not trivial or trite or shallow. It is deep with meaning. Giving Yourself to us means You held absolutely nothing back. You are not distant or unapproachable. You are loving and compassionate. You want to be a big part of our lives. You want to be with us through the joy and the sorrow.

We can experience snippets of this kind of relationship with spouses, close friends and family…possibly. And we are so benefited by those connections. But our relationship with You takes it to a whole other level! You are not inhibited by weakness or selfishness…or death. You are there for us every moment of our lives!

Your gift of Yourself also made it possible for us to have a relationship with You. Sin separated us but because of Your sacrifice sin is eradicated and we can now approach a hold God without fear or being eradicated ourselves – sin and holiness cannot mix!

Emmanuel…what a wonderful gift with such wonderful benefits! For as Paul stated in Romans 10:13, “For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” But as we continue reading in verse 14 we see that there is a problem.

“how can they call on him…unless they believe…and how can they believe… if they have never heard…and how can they hear…unless someone tells them?”

We cannot share the gift of Emmanuel until we give the gift of ourselves to others as well. Only when we invest ourselves in others will we be able to impact them.in many instances, only when they see Your love lived out through us will be convinced of its reality.

Lord, how many people do I see every day who are hurting, who are lonely, whose life has no meaning and they wander aimlessly with no direction whatsoever. Just this week I looked into the eye of a small child. I don’t really know his mother but I know of her and as far as I know dad is not in the picture. He said, “Hi,” as little ones will and even in that short amount of contact I could feel him reaching out to me. I may be reading a lot in to it but with that little phrase and those piercing eyes, he seemed to be asking, “Do you like me? Will you love me? Would you have time for me?”

How many people, Lord…how many do I see who long to ask those questions? But they hold back. They have been so shoved down for so long that they don’t even think to ask any more.

And, Lord, we both know that I cannot meet those needs…at least not for long. Life moves on…death is inevitable. But Lord, You are more than able to do so! Lord, give me the wisdom as how to “tell them” about You…to give them real hope in someone who is not inhibited but one who is all powerful…in someone who will always be with them…in someone who knows all about them but loves them anyway! Lord, help me to proclaim, “Emmanuel!”

Dec 24th, Thurs, 8:42 am