Once Upon a Time …
Luke 2:5,6 Joseph registered with Mary because she was engaged to marry him. (She was now pregnant.) While Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem, the time came for her to have the baby.
Once upon a time, Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem and little baby Jesus was born in a manger. It almost reads like a fairy tale.
You know what I think? I think that’s exactly how the devil wants us to view the Christmas story – from a nice, safe distance, as a myth, a fable, a fairy story. Because if he can get us to do that, we’ll miss the whole point of it. And if we miss the whole point of Jesus coming to this earth, then it’s game over. The devil wins.
Whatever you believe, come on … how do you relate to the story of Christmas? Does it move you deep inside somewhere, or are you so familiar with it that it’s become mundane, distant, almost … unreal?
The reality of that first Christmas is a gritty one, a tough one.
Luke 2:5,6 Joseph registered with Mary because she was engaged to marry him. (She was now pregnant.) While Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem, the time came for her to have the baby.
Mary was pregnant out of wedlock (the Holy Spirit did it … as though anyone was going to believe that!). Joseph must have been aching over that, whether or not he believed the angel who told him the truth. They’d trekked for days from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the baby, Jesus, to be born in a farm animal feeding trough.
There’s no fairy story in that at all – just the gritty reality of God’s love; His love for you. To send His Son into this world for you, to save you from your sin, to give you the free gift of eternal life. That’s what Christmas is truly all about.
And that’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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