Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. The sunrise was spectacular this morning, and it was as if God Almighty hand- painted His Majesty right before my very eyes. My heart went from solemn to celebration as I watched this new day unfold, and the course of my time with Him and my time in His Word was redirected. I started out focused on His birth and all of the circumstances surrounding His humble beginning…things we should never overlook. But in the midst of this magnificent morning, God didn’t just want me to consider the birth of His Son, He wanted me to CELEBRATE Him instead…so Celebrate I did at daybreak. Isn’t that what happens to you sometimes too?

My mind can’t begin to imagine what it was like so long ago when my Savior entered the world. A virgin girl was chosen to be the one to nurture Him in her womb, and there was no need for a doctor’s exam to confirm her pregnancy or to prove her virginity. Her fiancé kept his promise to marry her and he accepted what the angel of God told him…there was no need for DNA to confirm whose child she carried. Without a text message conversation, this girl’s relative immediately knew she was pregnant too because the baby she carried leaped in her womb at the sound of this young mother’s voice and the Holy Spirit came upon her that very moment… just as it was foretold. Without cell phones or the Internet, news traveled fast about this Child…the Savior…the King…because the details of His arrival, His life, and His Purpose were foretold long before He was ever born. Without the benefit of GPS the 3 wise men found their way to Him and without the benefit of online shopping they brought Him the most precious gifts under the sun.

Most of the world will celebrate next week, but most of the world won’t be celebrating the birth of my Savior at all. Some take advantage of this time of year and although they light-up a Christmas tree and wrap-up gifts, they don’t Believe in my Savior…they just like to use His birthday as an excuse to have fun. Some will proclaim to Believe but they don’t “buy-in” to all of the details of His birth that were foretold LONG before He was ever born…as if the Word of Godis a-la-carte and we can pick and choose the parts we like the best. Some profess to be people of Faith and yet they don’t pause to celebrate in Savior-style and when (or IF) they “tell” the story of His birth on Christmas morning it will have as much excitement as a trip to the mailbox. Some will sing Happy Birthday to Him on Christmas morning and seconds after they sing they’ll dive-in to gifts and shovel down a feast and He won’t be mentioned again…as if they’ve done their duty to acknowledge Him. Some claim to Believe and they’ll celebrate next week but the focus and thanks for all of those gifts their children receive will be credited to a fantasy-guy-in-the-sky who determines if they’re worthy or not.

I’ll soon be celebrating the birth of my Savior at the farm with my family, and you can be sure that it’s Him we’ll be celebrating. We know that “there is no good thing apart from Him” so He’ll get thanks for it all. We know that He is our Provider and that every morsel of food and every gift we exchange is only made possible because of Him. We’ll be celebrating Savior-style and we Believe every single Word of the story of His Birth…a baby born to a virgin…our King…our Savior…our Wonderful Counselor…our Mighty God…our Everlasting Father and our Prince of Peace!

How about you and yours?