Now that the Christmas shopping frenzy is over, some of us have now moved on to our next winter obsession: hitting the gym, chugging the Slim-Fast, and declaring, like Scarlet O’Hara clutching her last carrot, “As God is my witness, I will do whatever it takes to cram my flabby body into my blue jeans again!”
I’ve read estimates that some among us manage to munch and guzzle on five to ten pounds of additional weight during the holidays. Quite enough to make our clothes feel uncomfortably snug .
I don’t like “tight” things – tight clothes, tight spaces, tight schedules, tight budgets. I like some breathing room in my life.
Strange as it may seem, I was thinking about this very thing just before Christmas as I pondered the amazing mystery of the Incarnation—God physically living on earth in the form of Jesus Christ. Stuffing my overfed body into my blue jeans is one thing, but how does an infinite God cram Himself into a finite human body?
If I were God and I could create the body I would wear on earth, what would that body look like?
I’m thinking super model. Thick, shiny hair, chiseled physique, flawless skin, drop-dead gorgeous eyes, gleaming smile. Nothing less would do, would it?
But listen to how the Bible describes Jesus: “…He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. …Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” (Isaiah 53:2b, 3b)
What?! It would seem that God chose an “earth suit” to wear during His incarnation that was not exactly an Armani design. “Off the rack” might be a better description.
The all-powerful One put on vulnerability; the King of kings put on servitude; the majestic, beautiful Lord of Glory put on homeliness…the sinless One put on the stains of our sin so that we might wear His spotless righteousness.
God’s choices about the body He created to inhabit and the humble circumstances He ordained for His earthly life have much to say to us. The very things He denied Himself are the obsessions of our culture: physical beauty, power, and possessions.
Jesus came to earth to rescue hearts, not to earn a spot on anyone’s “most beautiful people” list.
He didn’t want anyone to follow Him for shallow reasons. He still doesn’t.
Go ahead and resolve to lose some weight this year, to seek that promotion at work, to buy that new house. Just don’t imagine that those things really matter in the eternal scheme of things, because they don’t.
Take your cues from Jesus, perfect God and perfect man, who obviously didn’t give a flip about most of the things that erroneously define “perfection” in this world. Let’s resolve, first and foremost, to passionately pursue what He pursued: loving God and loving others, with all His perfect heart.
“…(Jesus) made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross.” — Philippians 2:7-8
“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” – Colossians 1:13-15