-Strength for Today-"If Earth Had Only Known!" - John 3:16
We’re all familiar with that popular song of Christmas, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose. Yuletide carols being sung by a choir, and folks dressed up like Eskimos...” Back in Missouri, my brothers, sister, and I was one of those, "tiny tots" who couldn't wait to see what Santa would bring to us. We were so excited, that we could barely sleep.
Today I am older and wiser, and realize that Christmas is so much more than I understood as a child. Even though I am still fond of Nat King Cole’s rendition of “The Christmas Song” but, sadly this song’s lyrics bear witness with so many today, because children are being told the same story about Santa Claus and his flying reindeer multiple times during the Christmas season, and it builds a false expectation of Christmas.
But imagine what it must have been like hundreds of years ago when instead of, “Taws the Night Before Christmas,” parents would sit their children down around the fire and read to them from the book of Isaiah chapter 9:6-7. Instead of Santa Claus, children were actually told about:
· The coming Messiah,
· Their Deliverer.
Matter of fact, they even had regular times of worship to keep them in remembrance of this very special promise. As human beings, we often overlook the anticipated promise, and lose faith, because day after day we’ve waited and anticipation, only to wake up to nothing. Centuries later, even John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, hesitantly asked Him, " Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another?” - Matthew 11:3.
Therefore, it is no wonder that the shepherds were surprised with wonder, (Luke 2:8-14), when the heavenly host appeared unto them. When we read this story, we often only envision it from a human perspective, and overlook the big picture of God fulfilling His promise – Genesis 3:15. Now can you imagine the excitement in heaven as word got out that God was sending a messenger down to earth to tell the shepherds their Messiah had come? Who knows God might have said to them, [my words and not Scripture], "Anyone who wants to go may go!" Wow, heaven must have emptied! Their anticipation was so great not one of them wanted to miss this event!
Oh my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if only earth had known what was coming! “Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow, would not have found it hard to sleep that night.” If only earth had known what had been given to them:
· The anticipation,
· The expectation,
· The high hopes and
The joy would've been shared by heaven and earth alike! "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son," (John 3:16), for had the earth known, it would cry out, and did the Apostle Paul, “Thanks be onto God for His Unspeakable Gift” – 2 Corinthians 9:15.
Author: Plez Lovelady, Jr., PhD