Everyone has a birthday but not everyone celebrates their birthday.
Do you remember when you were young what is was like to look forward to a birthday celebration? Unfortunately for me, I was born on December 31 so I was a tax deduction! However, the kid beside me was the first born of the New Year and he received a $500 Savings Bond (trust me- back then that was a lot of money), diaper service for a year and a encyclopedia set. My Dad always claimed I cost him money from the day I was born!
When I read this passage, I always wonder what Joseph and Mary must have been feeling. Joseph had been told in a dream what was to happen and Mary had the angel Gabriel announcing God’s plan. The trip to Bethlehem must have been a challenge physically and emotionally for both.
So it is, as we approach Christmas, I ask you what effect has the news of Christ’s birth had on you? Is it same as last year, has it awakened a new sense of joy in your spiritual life, given you hope for the future, or caused you to thank God for his grace and forgiveness?
On our spiritual walk, we “grow” from infancy to adulthood. I challenge you to take time from your work/play schedule this Holiday Season and spend time developing a deeper desire to know God, have a love for others, know the joy of God’s grace, his strength through tough times and true peace which this world does not offer!
My hope for each of us this Advent Season is to prepare ourselves both physically and emotionally to Know God/Know Peace
Prayer: Heavenly Father as we approch Christmas Day let us stop and remember. Remember we are forgiven/We are loved/We are blessed/We are imperfect/Yet we are instruments here in God’s Kingdom on Earth! May it always be so.
Marv Jones
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