As you go about celebrating this week, don’t get so busy that you ignore why we celebrate.
For some, it is just the celebration of trees and lights, food, and family. Certainly, those things are enjoyable, as are other traditions, but they are not about Christmas
December 25, most likely, was not the day Jesus Christ was born but just a day that was chosen to celebrate. It wasn’t just a kid in the neighborhood that was being born, it was the Son Of God.
Put yourself in Mary’s place. She was a young teenager who was betrothed to a much older man. If that was not scary enough, an angel appeared to her in the night and told her she was going to have a child, not just any child or the child of her soon-to-be husband but the Son of God. Mary followed the angel’s instructions to the letter. She never questioned God’s plan. She did question whether or not she was worthy of such an honor.
If you have read some of the books of Apocrypha found in some older Bibles and from the Dead Sea scrolls, you might have stumbled upon The Book Of Infancy, which details the birth of Christ through his youth. The first miracle was not at the wedding feast but in the wombs of two women when Jesus and John recognized each other. The second miracle occurred during Mary’s delivery. An older midwife came to help her but feared she might not be much help because one of her hands was badly deformed. At the shear touch from the baby Jesus, her hand was immediately straightened and made new.
Almost immediately after Jesus’s birth, there was a brilliant star that appeared over the stable where he laid. This was a sign to all that something special had taken place. Eight shepherds left their pasture to follow this star. Kings in the East had already heard of the news and began their journey to find the child. Their journey would last two years. Seeing the now toddler, they presented him with gifts of Frankinsence, Gold, and Myrrh, and then they went on their way.
It was certainly a meaningful night. A night of miracles. A night that would change the world forever.
The babe, the man, the resurrection, all made a difference.
I pray that you all will have a joyous Christmas and a wonderful New Year. God bless you with good health and fulfilled dreams throughout the year.
Through My Eyes 