The Christmas season is always a season of joy and gladness. Everyone, both believers and unbelievers is preparing to celebrate the birth of the Saviour of the world, the Messiah. A significant amount of money is expended on buying gifts which will be presented to families and friends. Special meals are shared together with families and friends during this same season of festivities.
At the centre of all of this, I kept thinking about the reason for this season; and not only that but the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ, whose birth the whole world is celebrating. The parents of Jesus, Joseph, His father, and Mary, His mother were only engaged, waiting to be legally married when the angel visited Mary in a dream and told her that she would be pregnant with the Messiah. She was actually a virgin at this time, waiting to be married to Joseph, but now, she will be impregnated by the Holy Spirit. Strange! And it was actually a shock to Joseph. I am sure he would have thought about what the community would say about this strange situation. He immediately created a plan; the plan was to quietly disengage with his supposed wife, Mary, in order not to disgrace her publicly.
Violating the Course of Nature
While all this was on, an angel appeared to Joseph in the dream and instructed him to accept Mary and the pregnancy, as this is by the Holy Spirit. Most times, we expect everything we do or that happens to us to follow the natural sequence and happen in our own perfect way, but God will do whatever pleases Him in His own way. Hence, you can conclude that He is interested in fulfilling His own purpose and plan. The Saviour’s pregnancy can be categorised as violating the science of conception and naturally, an average medical doctor would not be able to describe how this happened. It was very clear that God was in it all! Jesus was God in human form on the surface of the earth.
A significant lesson from this is that some circumstances that are beyond the natural explanation will happen in our lives, and all we need to do is to be still in God’s presence in order to ascertain that God is in them. Mary and Joseph were visited by God in their dreams and explained to them why they were in that situation. I think, the season of Christmas, during the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, is a perfect time to examine our hearts to check our situations and circumstances. Is there anything that has violated the natural course? Situations that we cannot explain or that we do not have control over.
Being Attentive to the Spirit
In such situations, we must be ardent to wanting to hear from God. The truth is that; God speaks to us when He is conscious that we are willing and keen on hearing from Him. Joseph was said to be a “just man”, hence, he and his family were guided by God throughout their journey. It was also said of Mary that she kept everything that was told her in her heart. This implies that she treasured the voice of God and the scripture recorded that the secrets of the Lord are with those that fear Him.
Listening and responding to God are made active by the believer’s communion with the Holy Spirit. Our obedience and prompt response to the direction of the Holy Spirit are clear indicators that we are interested in aligning our will with the will of the Father.
Another time of reflection is here! As we celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas, it is crucial to examine our situations. Maybe we need to be more attentive to the voice of Jesus through the Holy Spirit or respond to the promptings and signals that heaven has been sending to us via the same Spirit.
Happy New Year in Advance!
One Response
Thank you Ayo. That passage was very special to me . Pray I hear and treasure the voice of God. That passage was and is very special to me.