Seeking a more stable environment

 One generation always seems to look at the other through corrective lenses. The lens identifies differences and separations. Life is like an ever-flowing river - one person sets out down the river at 8 a.m. and another at 1 p.m. They will never navigate the same water and rapids at the same time, but they are on the same journey together nonetheless, just at separate times. The only way to make it safely through the highest category rapids is to depend on the guide. He or she has been down the river before and knows the rocks, drops and waterfalls. The guide creates a stable environment for navigating the river safely.

Way back in a little town in the Middle East called Bethlehem, a baby was born. His mother was a virgin, his father was a carpenter, and he would become the ultimate guide down the river. He knows every rapid, hard place, and danger. He creates a stable environment for a more successful life. The question is, why would anyone try to make it down the river without him? Wise men traveled a thousand miles to see him as a child. They were wealthy, highly intelligent, and outsiders to Jewish culture, yet a child provided them with a stable environment for giving. The outcast of society left their sheep and rushed manger-side with reckless abandon. They were simple, smelled like the outdoors, and not highly excitable, yet a child created a stable environment for praising. A young mother pondered in her heart and a father questioned in his, yet a child created a stable environment for both of them to nurture and protect.

Two thousand years ago, a child was born in a stable, creating an environment for salvation, peace, and encouragement. The world moved along in the river of life, unaware the great navigator was just down the street in a manger. Many people missed their stable environment. They traded it for their ‘busyness,’ their agendas, and their self-focus. They overlooked a baby in a stable.

We should challenge ourselves this Christmas to seek a more stable environment. People worshipped, praised, and entered his presence - all in a stable. Now that’s an environment that can change a life!

At Christpoint Church, we’re real people, living real lives, serving a real God. Come and spend some stable time with us this Sunday. We’re on the square in Sparta and look forward to seeing you manger-side real soon. Welcome home.