“For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).” 2 Pet 1:3 (Amplified)
There is the story of a group of exuberant tourists in an alpine village who approached an old man sitting on a park bench and eagerly asked, “Were great men born in this place?” The old man in a taciturn manner curtly answered, “No, only babies.” The point he was trying to make was that all men or women, irrespective of their greatness or otherwise, were once babies. Christmas is a timely reminder of this simple truth, since Jesus Christ, God became flesh, came into the world in no greater guise than as a tiny and vulnerable baby. Like all babies, Jesus had to be fed, clothed, bathed, had His soiled bottom wiped, cuddled etc. However, unlike any baby, Jesus came into the world with a redemptive mandate – to save the world from the consequences of sin. This fact was trumpeted by the angels that announced His arrival in the world.
While the majority of babies born into the world won’t have angels heralding their arrival and while no other baby born of woman can lay claim to the same redemptive mandate as the baby Jesus, one thing that can still be said of all babies is that they can all potentially become great men and women. They can all grow up to become people of destinies who can positively impact their world and touch their generation for God. That this would ultimately be the case nevertheless depends on the close interaction between the child’s later choices and environmental factors that are more often than not beyond the individual child’s control. Suffice to say that it requires a God of purpose to create a people of purpose, all of whom begin their earthly sojourns as babies; the implication being that there is no person without a God-given purpose – even the wicked are prepared by God for His inevitable day of judgement.
The baby Jesus later grew up as all babies do. However, that which set Him apart was His consistent choices and determination to only obey God the Father, who showered His favour upon Him by filling Him with the Holy Spirit, thus anointing Him to fulfil His chief purpose of coming into the world. The variables that made Jesus Christ what He ultimately became remain the same today. God the Father and God the Holy Spirit are still the same. All babies are still being born with the same potentials just as babies of old. The only ingredient that you and I have to supply in order to balance this spiritual equation and achieve the same results as Jesus is our willingness to obey God and make choices consistent with His word and character. God is willing and ready if we are. He has the want to and the wherewithal to make things happen. He is only looking for a minimum of one former baby, who has since grown up and is now willing to cast in his lot with Him. He is looking for you. So, this Christmas, God’s challenge to you is to yield your all to Him the same way the former baby Jesus, latterly Jesus Christ, did, so that you can once again reform the winning team, for at the heart of it all, God is still a God of purpose.
Prayer:
Lord, you knew me ever before I was conceived and made me to glorify your name. Help me to rediscover your purpose for creating me. Bring me back into the path of life so that your Spirit can fill, enable and guide me into fulfilling your purpose for my life. Help me to consistently make the right choices to glorify your name. Amen.