Wednesday, November 21, 2012

The Appointed Time


The Preacher in the Book of Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time for everything.

Probably the one that grabs us the most is the "a time to live, and a time to die".

Not being brought up in a bible believing home, I think I first heard those words in the Byrds song, "Turn, Turn, Turn".

A few thousand years after the Preacher's words, a newlywed couple, were settled somewhere in Bethlehem with the wife ready to give birth.

I could add to this with all the common myths and embellishments we have become accustomed to attaching to the story, but I am very conscientious about being true to the Word of God.

For instance, we really don't know if Mary was on the back of mule. We don't know if they arrived in Bethlehem that night, or if they had been there for several weeks. We are not even really sure what kind of an environment Jesus was actually born in. A manger is clearly something he was "laid in" not surrounded by. There is no evidence of ever speaking to an innkeeper, so they may have actually stayed with relatives because the inns were full. 

Shocked? You'll be more shocked in the coming days.

However, these are not the important elements of the story.

What's important is this:

Luke 2:6 - "And while they were there, the time came for her delivery."

The Appointed Time.

The time when God chose to introduce His Only Begotten Son to the world.

The Incarnation.

The God made flesh. The God/Man Jesus Christ.

Emmanuel...God with us.

The Chosen Messiah of the world.

That's what really matters.

The Appointed Time.

The most important event in the history of the world.

Every year we relive it.

If we can squeeze it in between Thanksgiving and New Years.

If we can recover enough from Black Friday to cope.

If we don't succumb to the anxiety and stress caused by the multitudes who secularly keep the "holiday".

If we actually slow down, no, stop to breathe in the Words of God and contemplate them.

Good grief, the "time came". Never before, never to be again.

Jesus was about to be born.

Can you gather up that expectation within yourself again? Can you relive it in your heart?

It would be a good thing, because I sense, really sense in my spirit, that many people have lost it.

Yes friends, lost it.

And if you have lost Christmas in your heart, you have lost everything.

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><

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