During the Advent season, the kids and I do various special activities all meant to help us focus on Jesus and His birth. One of the kids’ favorite activities is the mall treasure hunt.
I print out an identical sheet of paper for each child with pictures of things like candy canes, Santa, wreaths, stars, and presents. Then, we go to the mall with papers and pencils, pens, or crayons in hand.
When we get there, each child begins looking for the things pictured on the paper and crossing them off as they are found. All of them are usually pretty easy to find except one—the last picture on the paper. That’s because it’s a picture of the Baby Jesus.
As you can imagine, it’s always more difficult to find the Baby Jesus at the mall (they’re not allowed to “cheat” by going into the Hallmark store and looking at the ornaments) than any of the other items. That fact has led us to some great questions and discussions as we answer those questions.
Why is it so hard to find the Baby Jesus at the mall? Why is it so much easier to find Santa? Why don’t people want the Baby Jesus there like they want Santa?
But these questions aren’t the only point of the treasure hunt. That’s because there is more to teaching our children about Jesus than simply decrying the fact that Christmas is too commercial, or that Santa is more welcome than Jesus in many places. The real practicality of the discussions comes from the following questions:
Is Jesus welcome in our home? Is He welcome in our hearts? What can we do to show both Him and others that He is welcome here?
The answers to this second set of questions are what I want my children to take away from our Advent activity. I don’t want them merely to remember that they didn’t find the Baby Jesus again this year; I want them to make it a habit to evaluate their hearts to determine whether Jesus is truly welcome, and to consider how they can show Him and others that He is.
Have you ever thought about these questions? About, first of all, whether Jesus is welcome in your home and your heart? Jesus isn’t just a character we use for basing Christmas on; He’s the very Son of God, and as such, He deserves to be welcome. But have you ever welcomed Him into your heart and life?
If you have, that’s wonderful. If not, tell Him that He’s welcome now. Tell Him you want Him to make His home with you and be found with you whenever people are looking for Him. In fact, one of His names is Emmanuel, meaning “God with us”. Is He with you? Have you shown Him that He’s welcome?
Think about it, mom. What can you (and your children) do to welcome Him? Why not make sure you’re doing it this Christmas?
Matthew 1:23—”Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (ESV)
What do you do to show Jesus and others that He is welcome in your life and home? Share in the comments below