As I was decorating my house this year for Christmas, I had the pleasure of setting up my Nativity sets. I have several and I was struck by how clean, well kept, and peaceful each and every Mary and Joseph were depicted as. How far from the the truth of that night must it be!
Mary, a teen girl newly married having her first baby without the wisdom or support of her mother. Joseph, a newly married boy having just painstakingly traveled for three days setting up home in a barn finds himself the unlikely midwife. I can only imagine after the harrowing journey to Bethlehem and the harrowing task of birthing a child both Mary and Joseph were sweaty, dirty, tired and nearly passed out from exhaustion. But Peace in that moment, I can believe for the Prince of Peace was just born.
I would imagine as a special gift to Mary and Joseph and sleeping baby Jesus that God the Father blessed them with supernatural peace. At least for that moment until the shepherds reminded them of what was to come. Then the real work begun. Raising God's Son. Providing for a young family. Journeying to the cross.
He took with him Mary, his fiancee, who was now obviously pregnant. And while they were there, the time came for the baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
Luke 2:5-7 NLT
Eleanor Roosevelt once wrote, "Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure." I wonder if Mary and Joseph had that mindset on their journey to Bethlehem. They lived one of the greatest adventure stories ever told, terrible at times but great none the less. At what point if ever I wonder did Mary and Joseph ever think of their lives as an adventure? Or perhaps we can only say that now looking back 2,000 years to their arduous journey to Bethlehem to birth the Son of God, to the mysterious visit by magicians from the east that bore fantastical gifts, to their middle of the night flight to Egypt to escape a deranged king, and to the miracles upon miracles that started with gallons of the best wine every produced. All for the purpose of and that lead to the cross. The redemption of mankind.
How often do you think of yourself in that adventure? We may not be bumping along on a donkey 9 months pregnant with the Son of God in our bellies, but we are part of the greatest adventure ever. The heroes of God fighting evil in this present age toward the end of this harrowing tale. We are a part of the denouement. The final part of the story in which strands of the plot are tied together and matters are resolved. Some call it the falling action but I can not in good conscience assign that title to what we are living. Because in our great adventure matters are resolved for all eternity by and through the Creator of the Universe. All the intricate workings of God's Will play out exactly as He ordained them to. The Great Author tying up loose ends. And for what? So that He, the very Creator of our story, could bring us to Himself, approved and blameless.
What will your role be?
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