Baby Jesus Brought Balance into the World

It seems like only yesterday my adult children were as young as my grandchildren. They were precious and innocent, and I wished time to stand still so they could remain that way forever. Of course, I thought they were the cutest kids on the planet, just like every other parent thinks about their children. They all loved Christmas and I loved watching them love Christmas too! It has always been their favorite time of year. Regardless of our wishes, time moves forward and rewards us with something even better; grandchildren.

Our oldest grandson, Wyatt, is six years old, and only yesterday was a toddler. Back then, Nana and Pappy’s musical nativity set was his favorite, and he continually pressed the angels halo restarting “Silent Night” and happily singing along. Wyatt loved wrapping Baby Jesus in his special blanket and then rocking him tenderly in his little rocking chair. Throw in a few verses of “Silent Night,” in his sweet little voice, and my heart would fill so much I thought it may surely burst. But he is growing up already and has moved from the musical nativity set to playing and learning on Nana’s computer.

A few days ago I saw the funniest site as I walked into my office. There was Wyatt, perfectly perched upon my stability ball, calmly playing a video game, with his feet seemingly three feet off the floor. I suggested a chair in place of the large ball but he rejected the idea and continued playing the game. The size of the ball didn’t seem to bother him and I was fascinated at his ability to maintain his balance with only his tiny hand on the mouse for stability. I couldn’t help but smile, watching him on the ball.

It takes incredible balance to be able to sit with both feet off the floor like Wyatt was doing so matter-of-factly. Most adults don’t attempt to sit on the ball with both feet off the floor. In fact, during my Senior Strength Training classes, the students work with one foot off the floor while sitting on the ball and doing upper body exercises with weights. For the students, it was a process. They started out with both feet on the floor, without weights, and then continued strengthening their core. They didn’t stop with both feet on the floor; they worked into their next fitness level. Wyatt, as a one-year-old, had a balance horse named Rody, which helped him strengthen his core, and in turn, improve his balance. He, like the senior students, kept moving forward.

Wyatt has not outgrown his quiet time with Nana. His sleepovers always include a request for a story at bedtime from the Real Kids Bible. He listens intently and asks lots of questions. It is so wonderful seeing the wheels turning and his heart beating for the Word of God. His favorite story is Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and he asks me to read it almost every time he is over. With time, and the right encouragement from his family and Sunday school teachers, his appetite for the Bread of Life will continue to grow.

While I would love to keep Wyatt small for a few more years, I know he will continue to grow and mature. The greatest gift I can give Wyatt, and each of the grandchildren, while they are still young, is the story of Baby Jesus. The humble way he entered the world; the unspectacular guests who were invited to share in His birth. Baby Jesus was, and is, the beginning of spiritual balance in the world. It is like learning to walk on the narrow road.

Now from a spiritual balance standpoint, some of God’s “older” children have never removed the training wheels from their lives. They have a good working knowledge of Jesus and attend church and are probably good and decent people. To them the story of Baby Jesus is wonderful, but some of the other stories are a little too judgmental. When approached to take on a commitment to serve they “humbly dismiss themselves as unqualified or lacking experience or talent for the position.” While these words may sound humble and pleasing to man, how do you think God feels about the response?

Spiritual balance is one part humility and one part commitment. It is no more complicated than that. Humility is not what you can do for God from within yourself, or from within your talent or knowledge. It is recognizing the terrible state you are in without Him. If you believe He, God, needs your strength, energy or talent, to complete His plan, you have a misunderstanding of God. He wants you to see Jesus, the grown man, obediently climbing upon the cross, surrendering His life for us, taking our sin and death to Hell, digging a hole in the embers, and burying our sin and death there, forever. He also wants us to know three days later He arose from the grave, victorious over death and offering us a future.

It is not about what you can do for God, it is purely what God can do with you, a repentant, committed child of the Most High God.

Isn’t it time to place your hand in the nail-scarred hand and take both feet off the floor? Jesus offers balance and stability when you know Him like He is described in Luke 2. “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.”

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