Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
It’s Christmas morning and I love everything about what this day represents. I absolutely love the story of Jesus being born into the world in such an ordinary way, to ordinary people. Mary and Joseph traveled far to the town of Bethlehem, because they belonged to the lineage of David. When they got there, there was no room in the inn, so they settled not too far from a field where shepherds were keeping watch over their sheep that night. “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’” (Luke 2:7-14.)
Everything about the birth of Jesus reaches out to every single one of us because we can identify; we are just ordinary people who are living ordinary lives, but this tiny miracle can make each one of us feel that maybe perhaps we can share in all that occurred, that we can share in His glory. It is so easy to take our focus off the true meaning of Christmas, even for me. However, throughout time, God has taken ordinary people and done amazing and great things with them. Sir Walter Scott was a crippled man; George Washington was buried in the snows of Valley Forge; Abraham Lincoln was raised in poverty; Franklin Delano Roosevelt had infantile paralysis; Albert Einstein was labeled a slow learner and unable to be educated, and Martin Luther King was born black in a society filled with racial discrimination. Corrie ten Boon and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn were incarcerated in a concentration camp, and Joni Eareckson Tada’s amazing ministry has come from a paraplegic in a wheelchair. Charles Spurgeon once said, “The Lord gets His best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction.”
In my early 20’s, I drove an old 1969 Volkswagen convertible. At that time in my life, I just got in my car and drove it, always hoping it would start; I never checked the oil, the tires and most of the time, I barely put gas in it. One particular day, I was just about to get on to the freeway, when a dove appeared out of nowhere and hit the front of my car, and I could hear him rolling underneath the front of my vehicle. I was so shaken. I pulled over to the side of the road and looked for the dove, but could not find him. I looked up under the right wheel well to see if he was there and what I saw astonished me; it wasn’t the dove, but on the top of my right front tire was a huge bubble, the size of a grapefruit which was about to burst. I looked around and I knew I wouldn’t find the dove, but I went straight to the tire store and bought two front tires. I know the Lord has a purpose and a meaning for my life and so on this day, this ordinary person will worship the Lord with gladness; I will enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. I will be thankful to Him and bless His name. (Psalm 100:1-4)
Merry Christmas, all year long............
