December 1, 2021

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

Isa 7:14 (NIV)

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We see the signs everywhere.  There’s no mistaking it.  The stores play Christmas music.  Decorations have been out since July.  Houses are blinking with Christmas lights of all sizes and colors.  Santa Claus sightings are frequent; that jolly old elf sure does get around. Stores are crowded with hordes of people everywhere.   “Attention K-Mart shoppers.  For the next 23 days we will offer billions of blue-light specials to add to your confusion during the Holidays.”  The signs are everywhere.  They seem to shout, “IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME!”

That was not the case that first Christmas.  Cattle were lowing.  Shepherds keeping their flock by night. There were crowds all right, but they were crowding in the inns not the stores.  The only signs were announcing “NO VACANCY!”  and “CENSUS BOOTH HERE!” 

But there was one sign that announced that first Christmas.  One sign, put up not by a greedy merchant, but by God Himself.  One sign whispered above all the hustle and bustle.  The announcement came to the shepherds like the pitch heard over the speakers in the store, “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Luke 2:12(NIV)

And in the silence of the night the world saw for the first time, a sign that still shouts louder than all the other signs we see in this over- commercialized world in which we live, “IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME!”