Monday, December 31, 2018
Matthew 1:18a This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: . . .
FROM HEAVEN ABOVE TO EARTH I COME (5-6)
5. There are so many children born. How do we know which one is our Savior? Others have claimed to be. They claim to have a revelation from God. They claim that by following them you will find God. Is this Child the One or are there others? The angel announces that there's a sign. There's only one Bethlehem, and in that town on that certain night when the announcement is made, there is only one infant lying in a manger, wrapped in strips of cloth.
“These are the tokens ye shall mark: The swaddling-clothes and manger dark;
There ye shall find the Infant laid By whom the heavens and earth were made.”
6. There can be no mistake now. We know the Child has come and we know how find Him!
Now let us all with gladsome cheer Go with the shepherds and draw near
To see the precious gift of God, Who hath His own dear Son bestowed.
The shepherds only had to run a short way to get to Jesus, but we are a long way from Bethlehem. How can we get there from here? Remember that the shepherds were going “to see the precious gift of God.” So whenever and wherever you look on the Christ Child in faith, you will be doing as the shepherds did. At church last night you went to see. Around the Christmas tree, do you stop for a moment to think about His birth so long ago? Unwrapping a gift, do you remember the gift of life that He gives? When you open your Bibles to Luke 2 or Matthew 1, doesn’t the Holy Spirit carry you right to the manger? Can’t you see the strips of cloth, the mother looking down on her son? Of course you can. “My heart doth always wander, to Jesus’ manger bed. His lowly birth I ponder; to Him my thoughts are led.”
