War Cry - Christmas, 2014 Page 10

pening

Your Heart's

Door

The War Cry | CHRISTMAS 2014

t's the most won-

derful time of the

year!

At least that's

what the old Andy Williams song says.
I'm not sure the sentiment of this classic

holiday song is shared by many people. Or
even you. This time of the year can be the most
painful and hurtful of all times of the year.

It is so easy to gloss over the human element of the

biblical account of Christmas and miss the fact that
Joseph was squeezed between a rock and a hard place.
Imagine Joseph's pain when he discovered his fianc�e
was pregnant and definitely not by him! We can pic-
ture him pouring out his heart to God, then comforted
when he received His reply: "Don't be afraid to take
Mary as your wife. For what is conceived in her is of
the Holy Spirit. Christ is in her. You'll see. Just open
the door of your heart to Mary, and you'll begin to ex-
perience the wonder of Christ's presence firsthand."

As bad as it was for Joseph, it was twice as tough

and awkward for Mary, an unwed teenage mother in
a small town. Pregnant! Unmarried! Talk about feel-
ing alone! With no advanced warning, her life and fu-
ture were suddenly turned upside down. She was a
true believer and follower of God. And she couldn't
explain her circumstances. Her dilemma was not
the result of a poor choice on her part; rather it was
the result of obedience to God. The angel told Mary
that she wasn't to be afraid. The baby was of God.

Mary took a trip to her cousin's home. When she

passed through the door
into Elizabeth's home,
she entered a place where
she knew she belonged,

a place where she was loved and understood. Eliza-
beth was family! She also was pregnant. Two mira-
cle children--one to a woman old enough to be Mary's
grandmother and the other to a young virgin.

Elizabeth, aware of Mary's problem, opened her

door and welcomed her. When she did, Mary stepped into
an atmosphere of grace and a sense of the Lord's presence.

Remember the ad years ago for the phone com-

pany: "Reach out and touch someone"? That's what
God did to Joseph, Mary and Elizabeth--to us. God has
reached out to us and waits for us to invite Him in.

Each year during the holiday season a certain man

wrestled inwardly with the thought about God becom-
ing man. This man was a good person who worked
hard, loved his family, provided for them and was
a good father and faithful husband. Every year he
would go to church on Christmas Eve with the fam-
ily and listen to the Christmas stories. However,
he couldn't understand the idea of Jesus Christ be-
ing the Son of God. One Christmas Eve he told his
wife that he would not be going to the service. He ex-
plained he felt hypocritical going with such doubts.

After his family left it began to snow heavily. He sat

down in his chair beside the fireplace and picked up
the paper. After 10 or 15 minutes he heard a thump
on the living room window... then a few seconds later
another thump... and then a third thump. Thinking
that some kids were throwing snowballs against the
window, he looked out and saw three small birds ly-

COMMISSIONER DAVID JEFFREY