Merry Christmas

December 25, 2017

Luke 2:10-14 (KJV)
¹⁰  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
¹¹  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
¹²  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
¹³  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
¹⁴  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

What a way to announce the birth of a son. We announce births in many different ways. Some do it by card, some by email, twitter or text. Some do it in person but the shepherds had a choir deliver their announcement. The Holy Ghost informed Simeon that the child Jesus was going to be in the Temple that day so he was in place to bless him. Anna was so close to God by prayer and fasting that when she heard Simeon she instantly knew who this child was.

At the time of his birth, God also sent an announcement to the world and a group of scholars or wise men noticed this announcement, a star. They followed the star until they came to Jerusalem and then they asked directions, for he was no longer in the stable. This information came to the notice of King Herod. It seems that the king received his announcement almost two years later than the shepherds did.

Today you would think that all the people would know what we are celebrating today, after all we have lived with Christmas on the television for a month, and special decorations have been in the stores for a while, in some stores since October. Yet we have not used all this publicity to invite the people to meet Jesus on a first name basis.

Let us make a stronger effort in the next twelve months to spread the word about this wonderful birth so that next Christmas there will be more people telling Jesus: Happy Birthday.

C.I. Wilson