Who's in your Manger?

“You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger….” Luke 2:8-20 (NIV)A friend and former pastor/counselor at my church sensed God calling him into a whole different ministry a few years ago.  He is now a Chaplain with the local police department and every month gives glimpses into the real-life experiences of both people and police. This story is one of them—with an application to all of us. He writes:

Who or what in our lives takes the place of Jesus as our Lord and Savior?

Is it our ego, job, money, stuff, sex, relationships, etc? It's an extremely

difficult question for anyone to TRUTHFULLY answer because it takes

slowing down our fast paced lives and doing some honest introspection.

Yesterday I was riding with an officer with many years of experience. He and I like to have deep conversations about life. He is not a follower of Jesus but is looking for something else to give meaning to his life. Before I got into his patrol car I prayed and asked God to use my life for HIS purpose that day and not for my purposes.I hadn't been in his car an hour when he started to open up to me.  He shared that his career (a prestigious one), his wealth (he has financially done well), his creative gifting and his girlfriend were not enough! He was struggling to find a meaningful purpose in his life. There was a long silent pause and he looked at me and said, "Well....do you know the answer?!" I said, "I do, but we're going to go into God territory and are you ready for that?" He paused for several minutes and said, "Yes."I told him that:

• God created us to be in a relationship with him, but when man with freedom of choice chose sin over God, man was separated from Him. And that created a huge void in all of us.
• I told him that it's a common mistake that we (humanity) try to fill that void with our ego, job, money, stuff, sex, relationships, etc. Some of the things we try to fill it with are bad things and some are good things but they all fall short.
• I told him that he would not feel right until he filled that void with God and that would come from receiving the gift of salvation found ONLY in Jesus Christ.
• Choosing to follow Jesus would restore that relationship as God had intended from the beginning.
• I told him that even if he did receive Christ that he would continue to struggle trying to fill that void with other stuff. But with practice and time his life would finally feel whole.

I don't know what this officer will choose in finding his purpose in life, but it will come down to "Who's in his Manger."Would you take some time this Christmas, even while you’re driving, shopping, wrapping gifts or cooking to answer the question: Who are you worshiping? Who's in your manger? Jesus or something else?It’s a question we need to ask ourselves not just once, but periodically as life rushes on.  If you’d like to respond, I’d love to hear your thoughts.Looking forward to reconnecting in January, 2016. May you have a wonderful Jesus-focused Christmas.Poppy[Tweet "“You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger….” Luke 2:8-20 (NIV)"][Tweet "Who's in your Manger? #Christmas #Jesus"]Photos: DollarPhoto Club