Love Was Born!

As always preparation for Christmas has had me inundated. I am guilty of wanting to see joy on the faces of my grandchildren, even though I say every year I’m not going to do it. One thing I have made sure this year was to prepare a special Christmas program that all of my grandchildren and great grandchildren could participate in. I’m not fighting the glitz and glimmer of Christmas, but there is one thing I don’t want to get lost – and that is that on Christmas – love was born:

The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” Luke 2:11-14 (MSG)

Whatever else tries to crowd out the message of Christmas, we must never let the message given to the shepherds from a heavenly host – that the Messiah had been born in Bethlehem and they would know Him because He would be found lying in a manger. Even the very poorest of citizens in Bethlehem did not put their newborns in a manger!

God’s message to the shepherds was so significant on so many levels. Shepherds weren’t at the top of the economic ladder, in fact the reverse was true. God the Father of Jesus did not send Him to parents who were rich, nor did He send the news of His birth to the notable of the town. It seems that God went to great lengths to see that this baby was born in a very humble situation, that all the world might know that riches and honor could not purchase a visit from this Messiah. If the lowest of the social strata were given the news that He was born, it was an open invitation for all the world to know – that He was to be the Savior for all!

What kind of Savior for all mankind came as a little baby – beholden for His every need to His parents? The answer is simple, the kind of Savior that wanted to experience all the experiences of growth from infant to full grown man. In fact , as the book of Hebrews puts it, He was tempted at all pints as we are, but without sin. Why would the KIng of Kings submit Himself to this? The answer is simple, He was conceived by love, born in love, and born to love to give us all the blessed gift of a life that could receive love!

Maria