// Handshake, Hug or High Five?

Knowing how to approach a person is tricky business.

So often I am unsure what is appropriate for greeting people - is it ok for girls to shake hands or is that a guys only thing?  When is it ok to hug?  My family do the whole 'kiss on the cheek' thing, and so do some of my friends - but then I get confused about which ones and you end up doing that whole weird 'kiss or hug or handshake' dance and no-one really knows whats going on!

I love it when you get to know people well enough that its just easy.  You know exactly what's ok - and even if you get confused for a second and do something abnormal for your relationship you can just laugh about it afterwards!

Its getting pretty close to Christmas, and I'm trying really hard this year to make sure I don't get so caught up in wrapping paper, trees and baubles that I take my eyes off Jesus.

When Jesus was born, it was the beginning of God's answer to mankind's problem: our separation from Him because of our own self-centred (rather than God-centred) nature. 

Jesus broke into human history, and brought the Kingdom of God with Him.  He got the Kingdom rolling.  In some senses, it was the beginning of the end.  With Jesus, God introduced the Kingdom into the world and it has been spreading quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) ever since, always moving closer to its completion when God will wrap things up with this earth and make 'everything new' (Revelation 21:5).  It is growing through those who accept Jesus' as their Lord and the one who has rescued them from the penalty of sin, those who are made new with the Holy Spirit and who live their lives in obedience to God's Word and His Spirit.  That is the Kingdom of God and it is growing.

As I read through the Gospels (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) I realise how people really didn't know how to respond to Jesus when they met him.   I'm not talking hugs and high-fives, so much as attitudes and actions.

In Luke 5:12 a man with leprosy (a skin desease) falls at Jesus' feet and says 'Lord, if you are willing you can make me clean.'  He approaches Jesus recognising Him as great, but unsure that Jesus would want to help someone like him.  Jesus simply says 'I am willing' and heals him. 

The Pharisees responded to Jesus with suspicion, as in Luke 6:7 - always looking for a reason to doubt him and shame him in front of others.  Yet Jesus could never be outwitted, out-reasoned, or outshone in terms of his knowledge of Jewish history, and also never proven guilty of any sin or wrongdoing.

The Centurion in Luke 7:6 didn't even see himself as worthy to go to Jesus and personally ask for help, yet had such faith in Jesus that he believed Jesus could heal his sick servant with his words.

Jesus' disciples often were more concerned with themselves and their own status than with knowing the true identity of Jesus.  In Luke 9 they argue over who of them would be the greatest.

Some even flat-out refused to give Jesus the time of day - as the Samaritan towns did when he planned to visit them (Luke 9:51-53).  And they missed out on meeting face-to-face the saviour of the world when he came.

Today, so many people still don't know what to do with Jesus and how to approach him - whether to approach him at all.

How do you approach Jesus? Do you assume he would never want to help someone like you?  Are you suspicious of him and looking for any reason not to believe? Maybe you recognise Jesus' status and power far outweighs your own and are completely humbled and grateful for his love? Are you more concerned with yourself and what Jesus can do for you than approaching him in love and respect?  Maybe you simply refuse to even meet with him at all or have never given him a second thought?  Maybe you approach him in a different way altogether?

As we get closer to Christmas, remember that the whole point of it is that we are celebrating a God who came to earth to buy us a gift we never deserved - to be able to approach him.  

Some will accept that gift with the gratitude and love it deserves,  some will sing carols and then forget about Jesus - distracted by new phones, clothes and DVDs, and some will flat-out refuse to acknowledge him at all.

Which will you be?