You Can't Steal Jesus

Recently some friends of ours told us of their frustration and sadness of the theft of the baby Jesus figurine from the nativity set they had displayed in their front yard. It’s pretty disheartening that someone would steal from your front yard in a small town, but even more so that they would steal Jesus! I remember my dear friend telling me about it and the loss of faith in mankind that it gave me just to hear the story, I can’t imagine how discouraged I would have felt if it had happened to me. “I just need to wrap some presents” she said, “to get me back into the Christmas spirit.”

And she was right. Because the joy of Christmas is found in the Holy Spirit at work in the world, loving like Jesus. We can easily get discouraged when we see people allowing evil to work instead of the Spirit, but her reaction is an inspiration to us all. When people or situations disappoint us, instead of getting discouraged, we need to work even more to spread love.

That same family knocked on our door yesterday morning with donuts and arms full of gifts for our family, something they do each year to shower another family with love. It’s a humbling thing to be on the receiving end of such an incredible act of generosity. As we sat and shared a cup of coffee I silently thanked God for the incredible gift of their friendship and for the wonderful reminder that you can’t steal Jesus.

The devil is working so very hard to make us forget the story of the birth of Jesus. The story of the God who loved his people so much He gave His son in exchange for them. The story that reminds us that after He came He never left and He’s there to meet us in every joy and sorrow and in-between. The story that this is not the end, but only a glimpse of the incredible beauty that awaits us.

Moments like yesterday when I get to share conversation with great friends, or when I walk into the room and my 4 year old is laying on the floor holding his baby sisters hand, or the loving looks and helpful hands that offer assistance when I’m out in public with all the kids, and my husbands constant and completely unconditional love are all pointing me to heaven. “This is just a piece of the joy that’s waiting for you,” God whispers in those moments.

Christmas is almost here and I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of things that don’t appropriately reflect the season of pointing us to the joy of heaven. But let’s all take a lesson from my friends and let our response to those things be to let the spirit work through us to spread love, to give people glimpses of Jesus and the joy that knowing Him brings. Because no matter what anyone does, they can never steal Jesus from our hearts.

So here’s to wishing not that you have the most perfect or merriest of Christmases, but that you get the opportunity to love others this Christmas. Share the story; it's most beautiful when told without any words.