Do You Want to Hold the Baby

Ever so gently, with care and adoration, pick up your Bible. Open its pages and caress them. Feel the story of God whispering through your fingers. Can you imagine your Bible being the Christ Child in your hands?

How would it feel to put your arms around Baby Jesus and cradle Him?  Would you tremble knowing He was the Messiah? Think of touching the Infant ever so gently and sliding back the cloth draping His head. Imagine stroking the downy hair, smiling at the brows like etchings of dove feathers sweeping ever so gently above His eyes.

Do you think Mary would let you hold her new baby? Perhaps, as she lifts Him to you, she would whisper His name, “Jesus. Our baby’s name is Jesus,” her eyes filling with wonder. Yes, He is our Baby.

The Baby’s weight in your arms would be warm, clinging as if it had always belonged there next to your heart. If the sleeping Messiah awoke, peered about the stable trying to focus, and found you looking down at Him, His gaze so deep would pierce your heart. In His eyes you would see Love, as you’ve never known. Your heart beating next to His, the history of the world would lose its’ sorrow and you would sense the peace of eternity.

Our Baby Jesus visits us all year round because He has entered our hearts and we may behold Him every day. The Christmas Season is an especially nice time to embrace the Holy Child in your Bible.

The Bible is God with us, Emmanuel. With the Book of Life in your hands you are holding the breathing, everlasting Word of the Son of God. The Bible imparts His life to us.  As we read of the Creation, the Flood, the Flight, Prophets, Psalms, the Promise, and the Birth, we can feel the beat of the heart of God. Like the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, our Bibles bound in paper, cardboard, synthetic leather, or cowhide, pulsate with God’s majesty!

This Christmas Season, give yourself the joy of cradling the Holy Infant in your hands. During the days of holiday preparation and celebration, pick up your Bible as if it was the Baby in the Manger and let His life melt your heart. Embrace His story, revere His presence, and caress the pages of His life.

Yes, you may hold Baby Jesus anytime! He is yours.

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word

was God.” (John 1:1)