Almost There!

“While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.” Luke 2:6

God’s plan is ALWAYS perfect. No slip ups. No miss steps. No, “I wish I’d done that differently.” Nope! God’s plan for redemption was and continues to be perfect. For us, we look at those last few days before, as the scripture above states, “... the days were completed for her to give birth,” and this is not how we would plan it.

Mary is 9 months along in her pregnancy with the Son of God, the coming Messiah. Mary and Joseph live in Nazareth, a town in Galilee, but Joseph is from the family of David and because of the census, had to travel to Bethlehem, the City of David to register. You know Joseph must have put this off as long as he could. He had to be hoping Mary would deliver and then they could go. But time was drawing near, almost there, when he would be in violation of the law. I’m sure he did not want Rome’s wrath on him and his family.

Joseph begins this journey of 75 miles, probably 3 days of travel to fulfill the decree of the Emperor. Little did he know he was going to fulfill the prophecy of God. All working together of God’s purpose. You may say, but Joseph, a good Jew, would have known the prophecy of the Messiah and he knew this was HE. Yes, but Joseph was human and certainly would have had Mary and the baby on his mind. I’m not sure he would have said to Mary, “OK, Babe, We are going to wait until just before you are ready to deliver and then head to Bethlehem so we can fulfill the prophecy about the coming Messiah.” I just don’t think it happened that way. BUT, I do believe God was in control of it.

They arrived in Bethlehem and Mary is in labor, almost there. Joseph is trying to find a room and ends up in a stable (probably a cave which houses animals). They are almost there. Everything is in place. Mary is ready. The baby is ready. They are almost there!!!

We are almost there folks. Christmas 2015! It’s almost here. Today is Wednesday, 2 days before Christmas day, the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus the Christ. You have been readying yourself, your family with the purchase of gifts, preparation of food, the invitation of family, friends, neighbors to join you. You are almost there! The hectic, busyness of the season is about to be over. You will breathe a sigh, some collapse, others turn on the TV to watch the game. Just a few more days folks and it will all be over.

Oh, wait, it will not be over or at least not for the believer! It’s the beginning. We are almost there for the beginning. The beginning of again acknowledging the Birth of a Savior, the Birth of the King. The beginning to again embrace the one who came in the world that my sins could be nailed to His cross once and for all. We are almost there so we can say again, thank you Father for sending Your Son into a lost world for “me.” Yes, these should be everyday thoughts, but face it folks, they are not, at least for most believers.

Could we possibly change that this year? Could we possibly, this year, begin to offer thanks to the One who came that we might have life in His name? It’s the mind set we need to have. We are almost there folks. I would just ask for you to think on this things. Have a blessed Christmas!

Pastor Marty
Worship, Grow, Serve