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Shedding the swaddling cloths
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When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. - 1 CORINTHIANS 13:11
Figurines of baby Jesus heads back to the attic soon, and that’s how a lot of people prefer the real Jesus-away from view and always in swaddling clothes. Some individuals are frightened of the Jesus who leaves the manger and walks in life’s marketplace.
There’s a time to celebrate the Baby, but that must lead to the season of receiving the Man. Your faith and mine must shed the swaddling clothes and put away childish things.
I’m no Scrooge opposing kids’ enjoyment of Christmas traditions. We must not push children into adulthood before they’re ready. But we have to let Jesus outgrow the manger. It takes time for a human heart to transition from the Baby to the Man. We miss the point of the Baby in the manger if we don’t see the Man in the marketplace, because then we will never comprehend the God-Man on the cross. It’s time to shed the swaddling cloths.
TODAY’S FOCUS
The New Year is a few days away, so it’s time to consider some goals for spiritual growth to pursue in the coming year.
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