HEAVEN'S GIFT - Part 8

"And she brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.’ Luke 2: 7

In that moment that Joseph tenderly laid this baby upon Mary’s breast, she felt the emotions felt by every woman who has ever given birth. In that moment, she was like any other mother. She felt such a wave of emotion and joy that words could not express it. But more…she felt indescribable LOVE! Love like she had never experienced before. The child she had nurtured and protected, dreamed and wondered about in her womb, was now in her arms. As she looked into those tiny eyes for the first time, felt his baby skin next to hers and grasped those tiny fingers, she was totally smitten! She would never be the same. She knew in that moment, that she would gladly lay down her life for this baby. Yet she had no idea that one day, HE would lay down HIS life for her.

For just a little while, she would hold him close, rock him and sing lullabies to him. Just for a little while….For as much as she loved him, he was not hers. He had not come to be her son….He had come to be her Savior, and, the Savior of the world. But tonight, there in that stable, with Joseph close by and the animals quietly sleeping, tonight, he was hers.

She had been given a gift…a priceless gift! As she held him to her breast, she had to wonder what the future would hold. How gracious of God not to reveal that to her. How loving of Him to allow her those few moments alone with him before she had to share him with the world. Those moments were also a gift, a gift that she would treasure and carry in her heart the rest of her life.

What a loving, compassionate Father we have!!!!! I am continuously overwhelmed by His mercy and grace to us. I am amazed at how he does little things for us, just because He loves us! God delights to bless us! I think we miss that sometimes. Just as we delight in giving to our children, God delights to give to us blessings for the taking. And He does, again and again, each day. Do we recognize them? Do we thank Him for them? A lot of those blessings come in moments just like those Mary spent with Jesus on that first night. Those blessings cannot be measured in dollars and cents. They are measured by the heart.