Thought of the Day !!

"Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Emmanuel" (meaning, God is with us).
Matthew 1:23 (NLT)

"It's impossible! It's ludicrous to believe that a virgin could give birth to a child! There must be some mistake because there's no way that Mary was a virgin. It's just not possible!"

I wonder how many people have said something like this before. This is a controversial issue among non-believers. It truly is a human impossibility for someone who's never had sex to actually have a baby. But God can make anything possible. If He created Adam from dust and Eve from Adam, isn't it possible that he could make a young girl named Mary pregnant with His Son?

To understand this, we must simply have faith. There's no way that we'll ever be able to physically prove the Immaculate Conception. On the other hand, we don't have to. What's important is that this son that would be referred to as Emmanuel was not Joseph's son. He was the Son of God. If we don't believe this, then the crucifixion of Jesus was nothing more than a cruel death of another man. And the resurrection never occurred. On the other hand, if this is the true Son of God, fully human and at the same time fully divine, His death and resurrection really do mean something for us.

You probably have already come to grips with the fact that Mary was a virgin. You probably already believe that Jesus was the Son of God whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. But many people today (quite possibly many that you will pass by today) do not. How might we respond to those who do not believe?

Let us pass along the true gifts of Christmas this year to others who might not believe. Whether they agree with us or not, let us share the hope, peace, joy and love of Christ. If they still do not believe. That is alright. Maybe we can plant seeds of belief in others that one day will take root. The best gift you can give a non-believer this Christmas is Christlike love as you share with him/her what Christ has shared with you.

In the love of Christ,
greg