Today as I walked into a store to purchase a few needed items I was greeted by an individual who had a Santa hat on and pointed elf shoes. Christmas music was being played. Everywhere you looked were decorations of Thanksgiving and Christmas. It caused me to realize that the end of another year was coming. This is my favorite time of year as we give praise and thanksgiving to God and acknowledge Him as the source of all blessings. It is with a heart full of praise that we celebrate the birth of our Savior and King. We sing a song that our voices proclaim loud and clear and our hearts are lifted to a new level of praise and worship.
“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!”
When we think of the Christmas story there is so much to talk about. Articles have been written and artists have featured the shepherds and their sheep, the wise men and their gifts, the angel’s choir and even the animals and the stable. While I too have been caught up with all the figures of the Christmas story it is in reading Luke 2:16 that the three primary characters came to my attention. Luke 2:16: And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. We can learn a lot from these main Characters of the Christmas story.
Mary: Mary is the mother of Jesus yet she has been viewed differently by some throughout the centuries. To some she is the one to be worshiped. To many she is the one they pray to, while others totally ignore her altogether. Although we do not worship Mary or pray to her, we do honor her as the human mother of our Lord. She watched as the wisemen worshiped her son and lived to watch the religious leaders plot Jesus death and then watch as he was crucified. Mary had to be a person of faith and one who loved God with an obedient heart. May we serve our Lord with such perseverance. Through Mary we are reminded that through the good times and the bad times of life, God is with us. He may choose to take us out of our comfort zones and life may be filled with highs and lows along the way. Like Mary, because we know Jesus we are able to persevere and serve the Lord with a faithful and obedient heart.
Joseph: The Bible gives very little information about Joseph. He never wrote a book and he made a living as a carpenter. He is a part of Jesus life until Jesus was 12 years old and then we never see him again. Joseph also had to be a person of faith. He saw the best in Mary and truly loved her. Dr. John Claypool told of a young man named Mike who was taking drama lessons. The climax of the year was a play in which all the pupils participated. Mike was visibly disappointed when he was assigned a “bit part.” He had only three lines, and they were close to the end of the play. His father told how he and his wife sweated through two hours until the time came for Mike’s part. Summing up the lad’s performance, the father said, “He said his lines — not too soon, not too late, not too loud, not too soft, not too fast, not too slow — he said his lines just right.”
The father left the play thinking, this is a parable of my life. I am just a bit player in the great drama of history. But when the curtain comes down and the stage is vacant at last, I hope it can be said of me, “He said his lines — not too soon, not too late, not too loud, not too soft, not too fast, not too slow — he said his lines just right.”
This can be said of Joseph, “He said his lines just right.” He may not have been the major player in the Christmas story but he was there and he did what he was supposed to do. May it be said of us that no matter our part and no matter the size of the role we’ve been given we will be faithful and do it just right.
The Babe: Much has been written about Jesus. Adrian Rogers gives this account about Jesus. ‘He came the first time to die; He is coming again to raise the dead. When He came the first time, they questioned whether He was King; the next time the world will know that He is King of kings and Lord of lords. The first time He wore a crown of thorns; the next time He will be wearing a crown of glory. The first time He came in poverty; the next time He is coming in power. The first time He had an escort of angels; the next time He will come with ten thousand of His saints. The first time He came in meekness; He is coming again in majesty.’
We have a story to tell and the whole world needs to hear the true message of Christmas. God’s story is amazing and miraculous from the beginning to the end. It was a glorious day when God created man. It was an even greater day when God became man. It was a wonderful day when God made man in His image. It was even a more wonderful day when God made Himself in man’s image. This is the miracle of Christmas. Let us tell the world.
You are loved and, in my prayers, as we come to the end of 2021. May you have a Happy Thanksgiving and a Christ filled Christmas.
