Insignificant

He was born in a lowly place—a smelly stable in a manger, nursed among unclean animals because his parents were required by edict to register in an obscure village—Bethlehem, the town Micah, the prophet, foretold (Micah 5:2). His father, Joseph, nearly in secret divorced the unborn Child’s mother, Mary, until an angel intervened and informed him that she conceived through the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:19,20). Joseph was a humble carpenter, whose trade he would pass on to his Boy, raised in the Galilean town of Nazareth. “‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Nathanael asked him. ‘Come and see,’ Philip answered” (John 1:46).

Seven hundred years before He was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote about Him:
He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at Him, no appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; He was despised, and we didn’t value Him . . . He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth. He was taken away because of oppression and judgment; and who considered His fate? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was struck because of my people’s rebellion. They made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man at His death, although He had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully. (Isaiah 53:2b,3, 7-9)
           
Yet, this Son of Man, accomplished something no other person could. He lived a perfect life. He performed miracles unlike any before or after Him. He freed people from demons. Though despised and hated by the religious establishment, He modeled what a relationship with God is. He loved spending time with the weak, the lowly, the rejected, the sick, those steeped in sin and thirsting for truth, offering them hope and redemption.

He trained twelve unimportant men (one of whom betrayed Him) as His disciples. By following His teaching and commands they became world changers. But not before they deserted and fled when He was arrested. As if that was not insulting enough, He was slapped, beaten, humiliated, mocked, forced to wear a crown of thorns, and crucified between two criminals. Before He took His last breath, even His heavenly Father turned His back on Him.
 
Meditation
Psalm 22:1--My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning?
           
Insignificant. That’s what we are. Imperfect, fragile dying creatures, we cannot save ourselves or anyone else. Too often, we are petty, spiteful, prideful, and selfish creatures.  Our good and best works cannot redeem us because, at our core, we are still sinners in the presence of a holy God who warned us that we cannot save ourselves (Ephesians 2:8,9).

Significant. That’s what we can become.  Why? Because incredibly, though laid dead in a tomb, God resurrected His Son, Jesus, thereby overcoming sin and death to provide the only grace-built narrow and absolute path for us to be saved—forever. Repent from sin. Hope in Jesus, the One lowly born. Trust in Christ, the rejected Messiah. Walk with the Master and have no fear of death or insignificance.  This is why we celebrate Jesus and sincerely proclaim, “Merry Christmas!”
 
Inspiration
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.”—Isaiah 9:2 (HCSB)
 
©2024 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  To receive these devotionals, go to www.firstcause.org and click the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed, subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice.     
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)