Immanuel

Immanuel is a word we usually associate only with Christmas time.  We think about the birth of Christ, sing songs about it, and then put it away for another year.  But, that was the theme of my heart as I read yesterday morning in Isaiah seven.
Ahaz is the king of Judah, when Israel and Syria decide to press in and attack.  Think of it as Canada and Mexico joining forces to attack the United States.  It wasn't like doing war overseas...these countries were right next to Judah...they were powerful, and they were coming quickly.  And Ahaz was afraid (I can't say that I blame him).  Isaiah, who is the messenger of the Lord, comes to the King with words of encouragement, straight from YAHWEH, who promises that the alliance between Syria and Israel is a temporal thing, that they will soon face their end.  Through the voice of Isaiah, He tells Ahaz to trust Him, He will prove faithful to the people of His covenant.
But rather than being comforted by the very presence and faithfulness of the Lord, Ahaz chooses to put his trust in men.  He decides to create an alliance with Assyria to help protect him and his country from the oncoming threat.
Again, the Lord comes to Ahaz through Isaiah.  This time, he tells him to ask for a sign...anything at all.  In every way, the Lord is offering Ahaz a chance to strengthen his faith:  ask of the Lord, see Him prove faithful, and then realize you can put your trust in Him.  Ahaz, however, refuses, not out of humility or because he realizes that he can trust the Lord, but because his mind is made up.  And so, the Lord responds:  "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign.  Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and will call His name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)
Immanuel...it means, "God is with us."  God is with us.  In every way, this sign, the promise of Immanuel fulfilled everything Ahaz refused to put his faith in.  Even when the Lord promised to be with him, Ahaz still chose to trust in men.  Several hundred years later, Jesus came, conceived by a virgin, to be the fulfillment of the promise Ahaz missed:  He was indeed our Immanuel, our God with us.
I don't want to be like Ahaz.  I don't want to miss out on the faithfulness and presence of my Savior, choosing instead to trust in other things:  people, myself, money, things...  I don't think the promise of Immanuel is a one-time thing.  He is still our God with us, our glory, our hope, our treasure. 
And in reality, it's not really the Christmas story, as much as it is the Gospel.  And the Gospel is always in season.