Friday Evening Devotionals

“For to Us a Child….”

Tom Barnard

 

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government

will be upon his shoulders; and he will be called Wonderful

Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

(Isaiah 9:6 NIV)

 

“How gentle the coming! Who would have had sufficient daring

of imagination to conceive that God Almighty would

 have appeared among men as a little child?”

John Henry Jowett

 

The miracle of the Incarnation is still too incredible for reasonable people to accept, except by faith. A virgin, a distant town, no accommodations, no midwife, only a carpenter’s rough hands to help, a birth of a baby boy, only animals and a few shepherds to witness the event—without faith saying, “I believe,” the story might never have left Bethlehem. But it did.

 

Had the truth been known in advance, hip marketers would have made it a sensational event—with lights, music, robed choirs, special effects, and all the drama Jerusalem could produce. The rich and famous would have been present. Leaders of state from throughout the Roman Empire would have been invited. The Wise Men—who actually came visiting months later—would have had to queue up behind the families who enjoyed mega-wealth beyond anyone’s imagination. Roman troops would have kept the crowds in line. Temporary tent cities would have sprung up everywhere from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Vendors would have been allowed to line the roads with food and other items to sell.

 

None of that happened. It was underwhelming. “A child was born.” Almost unnoticed. Hundreds of years before it happened, Isaiah saw it in a vision. And it happened just the way he saw it. A son was born, not in purple, but in sackcloth. He was not born to receive wealth and honor, but to give a gift no one thought was possible—eternal life! The Apostle John didn’t witness the event, but he understood it. Decades later he wrote (1 John 3:2),

 

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: But we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

 

It all began in a humble stable in a forgotten town, and the world has never been the same.

Rejoice!

 

It is Christmas Eve, 2010. Around the world Christians are preparing to celebrate the birth of the Savior,

 Christ the Lord. If what you have read here could bless someone else, why not forward this to them?

 It could change their lives! It did for humble shepherds centuries ago. It may for those you love.

To subscribe, they can send their name and email address to Dr.Tom Barnard at barnard22@cox.net.