“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

Isaiah 7:14

15 years ago, in a mobile home park in Loganville, I met a 5th grader named Emmanuel. I remember the first thing I ever said to him - “Hey, that’s a cool name! Did you know your name means ‘God with us?’’ He said yes and that was it. Over the years, Emmanuel and I became friends, and we’re still friends to this day. Occasionally, I’ll joke with him and ask, “Did you know your name means ‘God with us?’” He’ll simply reply, “Yes” and laugh.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve thought often about the name Emmanuel (or Immanuel as it’s often spelled) and its meaning. It’s perhaps the greatest name in the world. God with us. It’s the good news. It’s the most important message in the history of the world. But sometimes, like my jokes with Emmanuel over the years, we can easily skip over what a powerful name this is. God with us. It’s everything.

In chapter 7, the prophet Isaiah is VERY frustrated with the people of Israel. That’s pretty much how prophets lived - frustrated with the people of God. But they didn’t just roll their eyes - they spoke up. Isaiah told the people of Israel that even though they were “making people tired…(and)...making God tired,” God was going to give them a sign anyway. The sign or miracle would be a virgin who would come along and give birth to a Son called Immanuel or “God with us.”

Isaiah was casting a vision of God’s future engagement with His people and the world. He was the Hebrew people that even though they were messing everything up, God still loved them and would one day enter history. He would come from Heaven to be with us. Emmanuel. God with us.

This is the essential message of Christmas. It’s more important than anything. It’s the greatest gift God has given us - his Son. Jesus. Emmanuel.

If you’re like me, you don’t wake up every morning thinking about what a world-changing message of hope this simple name conveys. If I’m being honest, when I wake up I’m most likely thinking about all the things I have to get done that day. Like you, I feel busy a lot. I rarely slow down. It often feels like I don’t have time to be with God.

The author and pastor John Mark Comer writes in his book, Practicing the Way, (I highly recommend this book!) that the first and most important part of being an apprentice or disciple of Jesus is to “be with him.” Jesus didn’t invite his disciples to do more stuff or help more people. No, he asked them to simply “follow him.” To be with him.

This message from Jesus makes way more sense when we go back to Isaiah’s words in chapter 7, “the Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God with us).” God literally spoke to his people through Isaiah and told them that He was coming to be with them.

But they still didn’t get it. We still don’t get it.

God just wants to be with us. Period.

But in 21st Century America, we’re busy. We’re too busy to be with God. We have a lot of important stuff to do, am I right? How could we possibly slow down?

But what if we’re missing the most important thing in the world? What if we’re missing Jesus?

I think we just might be missing the greatest message in the history of the world - God, the creator of the universe, just wants to be with us. He wants us. Not our achievements or our successes. Just us.

But we can’t be with God if we don’t have time for God. So what do we do?

I want to slow down and as I’m getting older, I’m working on ways to slow down and create space to be with God. I’ll tell you this. It’s not easy and it’s not natural for me. I need help.

A few ideas Comer shares in Practicing the Way (I’d encourage you to get the book and dive in deeper) include making time with God a habit each day, finding a secret place to be with God in solitude, and ruthlessly eliminating hurry from our lives. We MUST take intentional steps to slow down. We have to start saying no to all the things we’re asked to do. We have to cut out more in our lives than we add in. We have to leave some things behind.

For me, that looks like less kids sporting events. Less work meetings that aren’t vitally important. Setting boundaries on social media and TV. Going to bed earlier. Just to name a few.

I’m not perfect but I’m moving in the direction I want to go. I’m becoming a person who spends more time with God.

Sometimes I think that if I was named Emmanuel like my friend, that it would be a helpful, constant reminder that God is with me. But honestly, I’d probably just wake up thinking about the same things I think about now.

The only way to truly wake up every day and remember that God is with us is to intentionally create the space in our lives to be with God. It’s the greatest gift in the world. God with us. He wants to be with us. Do we want to be with Him? If we do, we have to slow down and make space in our lives.

It starts now.

What are you going to stop doing in order to start being with God?

Jim Hollandsworth