Simple Wrapping

Some people will go to great lengths to wrap a gift. They will make really beautiful ornate packages. But I have no wrapping ability whatsoever. My wrapped packages look horrible. To a man, wrapping paper is merely an obstacle to keep us from what we really want. We don’t care about wrapping paper. We just want to know what’s inside the package.

God’s gift did not come to us in beautiful ornate wrapping; it came in plain, simple wrapping. Jesus was born in Bethlehem in a very humble situation. Think how difficult the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem was for Mary and Joseph. And when they arrived, they had to stay in a little cave. That is where the animals would be kept. And the manger was just a feeding trough for the animals. I think that the stable or cave was very cold that night. I think the stable smelled like any other stable. It was a very unsanitary environment in which to bring forth a child.

And I don’t say that to take away from the beauty of Christmas. I say that to add to the beauty of what God did for you. The Creator of the universe, the Almighty God who spoke this creation into existence, came and humbled Himself to be a little baby to be born in a place like a stable in Bethlehem.

He was not laid in the manger in satin sheets but rather in rags. He was not laid in a bed of gold befitting in a king, but in a feeding trough for animals. There He was—the greatest gift of all, in simple wrapping. Jesus took His place in a manger that we might have a home in Heaven.