Unto us a Child is Born

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. -Isaiah 9:6

As I write this Andrea and I are awaiting the birth of our first grandchild, who could be born any day now. There is much anticipation as we consider the birth of this child. Sometime over the next week or so, little Braden Daniel will be born in the local hospital, surrounded by doctors, nurses, extended family, and all the comforts modern medicine can offer. Consider for a moment the night that the Lord Jesus was born. None of those comforts were present on the night of His birth. Rather than a hospital room there was a stable. Instead of the comfort of doctors and nurses, there was the lowing of the cattle and the bleating of the sheep. And rather than being surrounded by extended family, there were shepherds who came testifying to visions of angels who told of His birth. I know that our grandson's birth is going to change our lives and we will be greatly affected by his coming into the world. All of this causes me to think about how the world has been changed by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible speaks of those that had been walking in darkness seeing a great light, and those dwelling in the land of the shadow of death a light dawned (Isaiah 9:2). Jesus' coming brought hope to a world that for too long has been living in the shadow of death without hope of redemption.

Something we always need is hope. Without hope we are liable to give up and stop trying. Hope can be the driving force that keeps us moving when we might otherwise have given up. Someone has said that hope is something; sometimes it is everything. Jesus Christ is the hope the world has awaited. The hope He brings shines light into the darkness of the world and the darkness of troubled lives. The hope He brought into the world can lift us up and keep us going forward when might have seriously considered calling it quits.

Be thankful, and look to the Lord during this season of the year. In Christ there is hope. In Christ there is ample reason to keep going.

Joy to the world; the Lord is come!

Merry Christmas!