“He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things” (Colossians 1:15-20 ESV).

How can we begin to grasp the immensity of Jesus’ birth and yet be comforted by it personally? Imagine yourself holding a newborn baby. Imagine this infant, heavy in your arms, is Jesus, “the image of the invisible God.” That first Christmas, the “firstborn of all creation” was a baby in his mother’s arms. This infant is the one in whom “all things hold together.”

God loves you in your vulnerability so much that he subjected himself to conform to a vulnerable human body. So today, whether Christmas feels full of warmth or cold and bleak, remember that Jesus, in whom all things hold together, loves you, individually. He is fully present with you just as he was in his mother’s arms. God’s peace be with you this day, this night.