¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.^[a] (Isaiah 7:14 ESV)

Immanuel – God with us. This is the core to our faith. That we have a God that does not sit idly by or up in heaven simply passing judgement upon us. No, our God is with us each and every day through the Spirit within.

This should be both comforting and concerning. Comforting, of course because He is always there for us to call on and knows us more intimately than we than we know ourselves. Concerning, because He witnesses every right and wrong thing we do as we do it. He is witness to the thought process before we act, the act itself and the outcome of those acts. This should be humbling at the very least.

We may often jokingly say, “what would your mom think?” However, how much more impactful to say, “What would God think?” And then to realize that unlike our mom’s, God is already there, before we call upon Him. He is God with us. Immanuel. Not just some babe in a manger, but Jesus upon the cross, Jesus ascended to heaven and the Spirit within.

We should be approaching our days with Immanuel in mind. Doing so thinking about Him listening to our thoughts, hearing our words and walking with us through wherever our day takes us. We need to strive to live a life where this is more comfort than concern.