The Empty Season 2

In my previous post, I related what I saw as the empty nature of our society's celebration of Christmas these days.
The good thing about emptiness is that it reflects an insatiable hunger that is built into the species. . . a hunger for God.  Emptiness can be a wonderful thing; if that hunger drives us to the Bread of Life.

This post will explore the "Emptiness" of the Christmas season from another perspective:

The Empty Manger
I am amazed at how God's immense sovereignty is revealed in so many small and detailed ways in the Christmas Story.  The tome is filled with instances of people doing common stuff that they do every day, because they have to or because it is what their family does or because they want to - and God weaves their work into His story.

No better is this illustrated in the manger.

Some time ago, I was allowed to explore something of a fantasy I had to become a farmer.  So we bought two goats.  I did not realize what tremendous eating machines these animals can be, so I had to devise some way of keeping hay available at all times.  I constructed a kind of "hay rack"of wire fencing and scrap wood and attached it to the side of their pen.  It was not pretty and it didn't work very efficiently, but it did provide some service.

I wonder if the "hay rack" in which the Savior was nestled, came about in a similar fashion. Whether it came about as an after thought or was designed with great care -someone constructed it or took part in getting it into place.
What an amazing thing, that God would fill the empty work of man's hands - and make it meaningful.
Meaningful work is a gift from God.

The Empty Manger also reminds us of a phrase familiar in the Christmas story - "it came to pass..." ; things change and we need go no further than the Christmas account in The Gospel of Matthew to see that by the time the Wise Men came to visit - Jesus was no longer occupying that manger.  He was now a "young Child" and living in a "house".

We tend to want to keep Christ in the manger, meek, mild ... tiny.  However, there came a time for Him to abandon it.  That doesn't diminish the qualities of the role the manger played; it only reminds us that "to every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven".