“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’” Matthew 1:23 (NLT)
There we sat in the Emergency Room. We had gone to church and as we were leaving my father-in-law started having some problems. We thought he was just over tired. He lived with us so we headed home to let him rest. When we got to the house, it was apparent that it was more than that. In his own strength he could not stand up. So, we loaded back into the car and went to the ER.
As we sat there, I sent a text to the prayer chain and asked for prayer. People started texting prayers and good thoughts immediately. We were comforted by their thoughts. Then about 30 minutes later, some of our friends from church showed up with pizza and a cooler full of snacks!
They realized we had gone straight from church to the ER and had probably not eaten all day so they brought us food. Can I tell you that totally changed our outlook and it warmed our hearts. Our friends looked at our situation and decided to walk through it with us instead of watching us walk through it on our own.
Jesus did the same when he came as a baby. That act of love was Jesus coming to be with us. He came to walk with us, eat with us, hurt with us, face temptation with us and then he died for us. It’s a special kind of love that puts aside what is easier to “live life with”. When Jesus did it, we took notice and because of his involvement, we know we are special to him and to God.
Is there someone you can “live life with” today, this week and especially this holiday season? Do what Jesus did. Come along side someone and walk with them. The ripple effect can be eternal.