An Unconventional Christmas Eve Message
December 24, 2024
I had a birthday this week.
For some reason I decided to pull my birth certificate out the night before and studied it at various points throughout the day. I looked up the name of the hospital where I was born. It is still there, though it looks tired and has poor ratings. There was a moment in time, however, that I entered earth’s history on that property.
That is where I was born.
I stared at my father’s name and then my mother’s. They were young — 23 and 21 respectively. I noticed there was a place on the form for my father’s occupation to be listed, but none for the mother. My father was a college student the day I was born. My mother was working as a nurse, though there is no formal record of that truth.
I was their firstborn.
I was born at 4:08 p.m.
The more I carried my tattered birth certificate around and considered the truth of my birth, the more the certificate seemed sacred. Of course the paper itself isn’t sacred. Like our bible, the paper isn’t sacred, but the words printed on them are. In the same way, my birth certificate is not sacred, but the birth it announces is sacred.
Your birth certificate is also sacred.
You were made with care in secret within the innermost part of your mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13) You were made to play a key role in the history of the world. (Ephesians 2:10) The exact moment in time you entered history was determined and selected by God. You could not have made it happen, and neither could your parents. After all, sex doesn’t have to result in a pregnancy and due dates are estimates.
We are image bearers of a holy God. We are chosen.
Why don’t you dig out your birth certificate sometime soon and spend some time inspecting it during one of your bible study and prayer times?
Who gave birth?
Who is the father? (if there is one named)
In what city? In what place? In what country?
And perhaps the most important part of the birth certificate is the time. What minute were you born? Thank God for your entrance into His Story. Whether you have a birth certificate or not, God knows the answers to every question. Whatever the details of your birth were, each was determined by the eyes and hand of God.
Our lives are significant!
Picture Explanation: I am facing another year with a smile. I don’t know what is coming, but I can face the future standing tall because of what God promises in Isaiah 43:2: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Consider spending time analyzing this verse piece-by-piece as well. It is extremely comforting.
Speaking of the significance of your birth in history: If you are interested in being contacted to participate in a One Gritty Blink Bible study, click on the Oaks Ministries link below and contact me by email so I can place you on a list to be contacted as online and face-to-face studies are planned. Let’s not just focus on things in this short life, but also what counts for eternity!
Note: No part of my posts are derived from A.I. Thoughts and writing stem from my mind and heart as I process life week-by-week and continue to grow in my understanding of God and how to apply His wisdom to the world around me.
© 2023 by Oaks Ministries. All rights reserved.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes growth.
1 Corinthians 3:6
4 Responses
Happy Birth- day Laurie,
I laughed because I have done the same thing as well as memorize the time. I was born on my parent’s 16th wedding anniversary and was the only girl born to the “McCarty Clan” in 4 decades. My older brother was 15 years older than me and my other brother was 5 years older. I have buried all of them and can hardly wait to be united again.
I was asked this past week, how can I live with the laundromats shut down in Blanco County because of water shortage while living in a barn with an income below poverty level? I shared with this Mom in Houston that many people in this community see this. They have watched me go through many challenges living out here. Some are agnostics and some just do not believe. They knew my Uncle John and his survival in Cabanatuan. I share with them my faith and how he was the lone survivor eating bugs. In his book, he shares it was his “faith” that was his shield which helped him persevere. He knew who was in control. When asked how can I live without all the things I had 2 decades ago, I just say…”I am not eating bugs…my faith gets me through each day, and I know who holds my future.” Because he lives, I can face tomorrow even with the stage 6 in water shortage.
Laurie, it would take volumes to share all the horrific times that God has walked “with me” through all the adversities in my life as well as many miracles.
Thank you for reminding us of that scripture❣️
You are a deep well, Sally. There is no way we can share all the deliverance stories, but the faith God develops inside us through the trials becomes part of all we do, how we think and what we say as we respond to life TODAY. Nothing is being wasted. Thank you for communicating with your full self!
Thanks for the Isaiah 43:2 passage, Laurie. Very meaningful!
Oh, good. It is a favorite of mine.