Christmas story: Inflatable style...

Quintessential nativity scene 

It's just 5 days till Christmas and my neighborhood already looks like the north pole. The only thing left is seeing really tiny elves walking around with squeaky voices and green spandex pants. Personally, I love seeing colorful Christmas lights and electric reindeer outside peoples' homes. My parents, on the other hand, never decorated the outside of our house for Christmas. It wasn't because we were related to Scrooge or the Grinch or anything like that. We were honestly just lazy to hang up Christmas lights and lawn ornaments. The only Christmas decoration we have now at the house is an almost dead Christmas red plant they sell at pretty much every grocery store there is. A lady from church gave it to my mom. (God bless us)

Lately, I've been oddly fascinated by inflatable lawn ornaments. Don't ask why. Maybe it's my childhood dream of decorating our house better than a winter wonderland and competing with the neighbors. And winning. And rubbing it in their faces. But then again that's not the what Jesus would do. Oh, and the inflatable ornaments? You know which ones I'm talking about.. The ones that have Santa Clause in a big bubble and there's fake snow blowing inside. Those. Oh, and my favorite. The nativity inflatable lawn ornament that you can buy for about $65 at Wal-Mart in the garden center. They're usually all the same. Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, with a sheep and a donkey, which is totally unbiblical because there were also wise men, shepherds, an angel and other animals. All I'm saying is Wal-Mart better get it right. I saw one in front of someones house the other night while driving and I couldn't help but think that someone paid almost seventy dollars for an inflatable Jesus. I'm just sayin. I'm not sure if the family that owns this really understand the story behind their really cool inflatable nativity scene. Who knows. But the reality is that this picture, this story of Jesus in a manger has become a culture icon in the United Sates. Hello!? It made it to the inflatable ornament section, next to Santa Clause and Frosty the snow man. You ask an atheist, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Mormon, anyone with or without a religion in America and they will know this story. Every year it's proclaimed as the "reason for the season." And weather or not people believe in it or not, this story is one of the most popular and told stories during Christmas. 

But this story surpasses any Christmas tale little kids swoon over. Unlike Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer, this story is more real than anything ever told over the fireplace. It happened. It impacted the course of History. Forever. The problem of sin was forever solved when a young girl named Mary, through the power of the Holy Spirit, gives birth to God Himself made flesh. Made nothing. Made sin for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21 That little baby boy wrapped in cloth was the savior of the world who was born to eventually die for the sins of a perished, disobedient humanity. He would eventually bear the sins of you, of me, on his shoulders, on the cross. Not because we are worthy, but so that we (a sinful people) may be reconciled to the Father (the perfect, righteous, holy God). Because He is love.  

That's the Christmas story.