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Key Bible Verse: "The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel—'God is with us'" (Isaiah 7:14). Bonus Reading:Isa. 7:1-15

One of the most familiar Christmas texts is [today's Key Bible Verse]. Less familiar is its context. Isaiah has been pleading with King Ahaz to put his trust in God's promise to Judah rather than in alliances with military powers like Syria. "If you want God to protect you," the prophet warns the fearful king, "learn to believe what he says." Then he tells Ahaz that God's going to give him a baby as a sign. Isn't that just like God, Ahaz must have thought. What I need, with Assyria breathing down my neck, is a good army, not a baby!

God often loves us this way: with gifts we thought we didn't need, which transform us into people we don't necessarily want to be. With our advanced degrees, armies, government programs, material comforts, and self-fulfillment techniques, we assume that religion is about giving a little of what we own to confirm to ourselves that we're self-sufficient.

Then this Stranger comes to us, blesses us with a gift, and calls us to see ourselves as empty-handed recipients of a gracious God who, rather than leave us to our own devices, gave us a baby.

—William Willimon in Christian Century

My Response: Am I, like Ahaz, reluctant to come empty-handed for other-worldly gifts?

Thought to Apply: The ox and the ass understood more of the first Christmas than the high priests in Jerusalem. It is the same today.

—Thomas Merton (monastic writer)

Adapted from Christian Century (12/21/88) by permission.

Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Lord, help me to get past all the Christmas wrapping to the essence of Your staggering gift.

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