Blog

Christ is Born!

Posted on 12.26.2012

I had the privilege of being “on call” for the weekend and through Christmas morning. It was my turn again and so I completed my marathon call by delivering a little boy baby at 4:26 a.m. on Christmas morning! Needless to say, it underscored the meaning of the day we all just celebrated: Christmas—the celebration of the Christ Child born and a Son given to us by the Father (Isaiah 9:6). In our human perspective, a little child was born. From God’s lofty view, His Son was given to us for our benefit. That gifting makes all the difference for us.

Most of us can easily relate to the birth of a baby. We giggle at the “cuteness” of little babies and can relate to the excitement of it all. I am often told how exciting and magnificent it must be for me to have the privilege of standing by and facilitating so many births over the many years I have been practicing obstetrics. Yes, it is exciting and emotional and precious and nerve-wracking! For me, my stomach and other parts of my body tighten during the birthing process until the baby is out and both Mom and baby are stable. We can relate to the fact that we know that after parents have their little babies, they will not sleep much really in the months to follow. We can relate to the fact that after the baby is born, each day there will be new discoveries about that little person and growing responsibilities that come with raising a child. Thus, in God’s grand plan, He wanted to relate to us, so He did it by sending a baby to get our attention.

In addition to the Christ child being born unto us humans, God’s grand plan was to give us His Son. This was a sacrifice. This was costly to the Son and to the Father. The mind-blowing part of all of this was that God, our Eternal Father, felt that we human beings were worth the great sacrifice. God’s love for us was so strong and unconditional that He sacrificed His own fully human Son and fully divine Son for us that we may be reconciled, or brought back into right fellowship with God himself—a fellowship that had been broken up by our sin.

For two weeks leading up to Christmas, I have not been able to hear a Christmas song that referred to the Christ child without crying! I have been so touched by the precious gift God’s Son, Jesus, has been to me personally and to all of the world. I have been humbled as I have gone about my daily work, for the more that I focused on the Christ Child and the gift He was and is to us, the more it caused me to do my work with more love and care and concern for others. As I have focused on the Giver of this “indescribable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15), I have been more able to give and serve gratefully for the love of God. Gratitude has made my work seem lighter.

Let us continue to focus daily on God’s gift to us: Jesus Christ the Lord who became the worthy sacrificial Lamb that was slain for our sins. He is worthy to receive power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor glory and praise forever and ever! Amen (Rev. 5:12-14)!