In the third chapter of the Book of Genesis, you will find the first two questions that God ever addressed to us—“Where are you? Why are you hiding from me?”

They are very simple questions. But in this case, the answer was not so simple because it involved the shame of having to admit that we had disobeyed God. As a result, we were forced to give up the paradise known as Eden.

But God did not give up. God kept looking for us. And when God found us in captivity, God told Moses, “I have seen the hardship of my people in Egypt, and I want you to lead them out of there.”

Once we were free, God said, “Okay, maybe I was a little vague back there in the garden about what was expected. Let me give you some more specific guidelines—Ten Commandments. Just follow these and life will go smoothly for you.”

But of course, we didn’t follow them. We broke the commandments, left and right. In fact, we even broke the stone tablets they were written on!

And so, eventually, God said, “All right, Ten Commandments are obviously too much for you to keep up with, let me try and simplify it. Instead of ten, just remember these two—Love me and love one another.”

But it still didn’t work, and God kept asking the same question that had been raised at the very beginning. “Where are you? Why are you hiding from me?”

Finally, God said, “I’m going to take a different approach. Put the old covenant on hold, because I have a new kind of covenant in mind. It’s much harder for me, but hopefully, it will prove easier for you. From now on, you don’t have to meet me halfway; I will come to where you are. I will make my home with you.”

This radical step by God is what we celebrate each and every Christmas. The secular world may sing, “There’s no place like home for the holidays.” However, the point of Christmas is not that we get to go home … it is that God decided to make a home with us!