Slideshow image
Scripture for the day: Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Thought for the day: Have you ever watched as a friend’s family prepares to welcome a newborn into the family? The excitement is almost visible. This may not be the first child; perhaps it’s her second, but the excitement is there in abundance and changes are constantly underway. Furniture is rearranged to make room for the new crib, bassinet, and all the rest of the support structure necessary to provide for this new-born life. Schedules are adjusted and help is lined up to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible, particularly for the first few days after delivery. Everyone from great-grandparents to the “big sister” is eager to make the acquaintance of this newest life on the planet. What a difference a baby makes in the lives of those he or she touches!
An author named Bret Harte wrote a story about the Wild West, called “The Luck of Roaring Camp.” Roaring Camp was the meanest, toughest Mining Town in all the West. There were more murders and thefts in Roaring Camp than any other place around. Roaring Camp was inhabited entirely by men … except for one woman who made her living in the only way she knew how. Her name was Cherokee Sal.
Eventually, Cherokee Sal became pregnant and gave birth. She died in childbirth, and no one knew who the father might be. The men put the baby girl in a box with some old rags under her. Somehow that just didn’t seem right, so one of the men rode 80 miles to buy a Rosewood Cradle. When they put the rags and the baby in the beautiful new cradle, the rags just didn’t look right. So another man rode to Sacramento and purchased some silk and lacy blankets. The men lined the Rosewood Cradle with silk and tucked the new blanket around the little baby girl. But then someone noticed that the floor under the cradle looked dirty. The next thing you knew, a few of those big, tough men got down on their hands and knees and scrubbed the floor until it was spotless. Of course, then the walls and the ceiling … and the dirty windows looked awful. So they washed down the walls and the ceiling, and they even hung some clean white curtains on the windows.
Things were beginning to look a lot better. But they soon realized they had to give up their carousing and fighting. After all, the baby needed a lot of sleep, and babies can’t sleep during a brawl. Besides all that, the baby didn’t like angry voices or frowning faces. So the men started smiling and talking in pleasant, cheerful tones. And, since babies shouldn’t be left alone, they set the cradle by the entrance of the Mine and one of the men stayed next to her while the others worked. Then somebody noticed how ugly the mine entrance was. So they planted some flowers and made a small garden near the cradle. And as they worked, the men looked for shiny little stones that they could show to the baby and watch her gurgle and coo. But when they held the stones down near her, they saw that their hands looked black and dirty. And they didn’t want to scare the little baby with their scraggly hair and wild beards. Pretty soon the general store sold out of soap and shaving gear.
The baby changed everything. Oh, they didn’t set out to make such radical changes. They simply looked deeply at the baby, and the longer thy looked the more difference they saw between the baby and themselves. The more difference they saw between the purity of the baby and the ugliness of their own lives, the more changes they realized were needed. The more changes that were made, all as a result of truly seeing the baby, the more they became like the baby, in appearance and disposition. What a difference the baby makes!
Now go take on your world. - Bill