… Though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God (John 1:10-13).

As we are reaching the conclusion of our Home for Christmas series (and the start of merry Christmas celebrations!), here are four “signpost words” that point our way home:

Recognize. We’ve all had the experience: you run into someone you know, but because this happens in a different way, place or time than we’re used to, we don’t recognize the person.  “Oh, it’s you!  I’m so sorry, I didn’t recognize you!  Good to see you!”

But how are we to recognize the God whom we have never met face to face?  God would have to come in person and make the introduction – which is exactly what God did in “becoming flesh (human) and dwelling among us.”  In Jesus, we experience a “shock of recognition”: “Oh, I had heard some things about you … but now, to finally meet you!”

Receive.  Receive is a word of personal intimacy.  We might “recognize” some things about Jesus, but never actually receive him.  Think of what it means to receive a Most Important Person into your home: how would you prepare, and what would it mean that that MIP wanted to meet, spend time and share life, with you?

To receive means to welcome all the way in.  If I merely sketch a quick wave as I hurry past you, if I leave you merely standing on my front sidewalk or front porch, if I “promise to get back to you,” I haven’t really received you.  I receive you when I welcome you all the way inside: “Thank you for coming – please, please come in!  Make yourself at home!”

Believe. Believing is something we do with our hands and feet, with our deeds and words, with our time and resources, as well as with our thoughts and minds.  If I tell you I’d like to stop by at two and you believe me, there are things you will do to get ready.  If I tell you that I’m coming by to have a very important conversation with you, that would add some layers to your preparation.  If I say I am coming over because I have something precious to give you – if you really believed me – that, too, will call you into action.

Become.  Becoming is not something we actively do; becoming is something we actively allow to happen to us.  It is not true that “you can become whatever you desire,” but it is true that, as we recognize, receive and believe Jesus, we are welcomed into the process of becoming children of God. Become speaks of an ongoing process of new creation.  Everyone who recognizes and receives Jesus for who Jesus truly is, who believes in him with our whole lives and not just a few heady parts of those lives becomes, over the rest of those lives and into eternity, what God in Christ declares and makes us to be: beloved children of God.

Merry Christmas, dear Connect Devotional readers!  May this be a season of richer recognition, fuller reception, and more genuine believing of all that Jesus is, says and does.  May we enter, personally and together into becoming all that we are in Christ: beloved sons and daughters of God!

To read or re-read the overview/summary of this week’s passage, you can click here.