Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
The One Step Daily Devotional is intended to provide just one step each day for your journey with God. Every journey requires water breaks. Here is a water break for you.
As we consider the coming of Jesus to this earth, we must not miss the implications of “God with us.” Why did Jesus come to Earth to be with us?
John 3:16-17 tells us,
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
God gave Jesus because of His great love for us. His intention was that all would be saved.
When Jesus came as Immanuel, the implications span all of eternity, and we could discuss them at great length. But, in today’s water break, let’s consider this: God’s heart is to be with us.
This is how it was at the beginning:
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:8
In the beginning, God walked in the cool of the day in the Garden of Eden. He was right there with them! That’s how He inaugurated His relationship with humanity: walking with us. Can you imagine? Imagine that you walk down your favorite path through the woods and turn to see something out the of the corner of your eye. It isn’t a butterfly drifting through the air or a deer bounding through the flowers. It’s God. When was the last time you looked over and saw God? This was humanity’s reality prior to their fall into sin.
You’ll notice that in the same verse that we learn that God walked among us, we see that we (humanity) hid from Him. This is tragic; this is heartbreaking. Adam and Eve’s sin caused them to hide. Their sin and subsequent hiding formed a rift in our relationship with Him. The walk was over.
God, in His love and goodness, did not give up on us. He continued to relate to and reach out to humanity over the generations. Then, God made a big move: He re-established “God-with-us.”
Jesus came as a baby to this earth, not just to give us a holiday to celebrate, but to reestablish an intimate proximity to the people He created and loves.
He came to once again be God with us. He came as a baby born in Bethlehem so that He could walk with us.
Today, take a step. Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to walk through your day knowing that He’s walking with you. Perhaps today God wants you to remember that Christmas is about His love for you and His desire to be close. Perhaps today God wants you to slow down your life to a walk. Maybe today God wants you to look over and see Him.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a water break… we all get thirsty.
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