The Word Made Flesh

(oh. Mary has her thumb up her nose. oops.)

And there in the stable, amongst the chickens and the donkeys, and the cows, in the quiet of the night, God gave the world His wonderful gift. The baby that would change the world was born. His baby Son.

Mary and Joseph wrapped Him up to keep Him warm. They made a soft bed of straw and used the animals' feeding trough as His cradle. And they gazed in wonder at God's Greatest Gift, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger.

Mary ad Joseph named Him Jesus, "Emmanuel"- which means "God has come to live with us."

Because, of course, He had.

That same night, in amongst the other stars, suddenly a bright new star appeared. Of all the stars in the dark vaulted heavens, this one shone clearer. It blazed in the night and made the other stars look pale beside it. God put it there when His baby Son was born- to be like a spot light. Shining on him. Lighting up the darkness. Showing people the way to Him.

You see, God was like a new daddy- He couldn't keep the good news to Himself. He'd been waiting all these long years for this moment, and now He wanted to tell everyone. So He pulled out all the stops. He'd sent an angel to tell Mary the good news. He'd put a special star in the sky to show where His boy was. And now He was going to send  a big choir of angels to sing His happy news: He's here! He's come! Go and see Him! My little Boy.

In those days, remember, people used to laugh at shepherds, and say they were smelly,and call them other rude names (which I can't possibly mention here).

You see, people thought shepherds no-bodies, and just scruffy old riff-raff.

But God must have thought shepherds were very important indeed, because they're the ones He chose to tell the good news to first.

Standing in front of them was a huge warrior of light, blazing in the darkness. "Don't be afraid of me!" the bright shining man said. "I haven't come to hurt you. I've come to bring you happy news for everyone everywhere. Today, in David's town, in Bethlehem, God's Son has been born! You can go and see Him. He is sleeping in a manger."

~ from the Jesus Storybook Bible~ (which I CANNOT recommend highly enough. It is beautifully written, and make s(for me anyway) the Bible come to life. I often get teary eyed when B. is doing Bible time with the children after dinner. Really, every ADULT needs to read it!) 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!