As I type this I am listening to the song ‘Mary did you know?’ by Mark Lowry. It has become this year’s Christmas’ most special song in our home. For those not familiar with it, it speaks a tender monologue as if to Mary, the mother of Jesus, asking if she knew just to what extent the world had changed through her new-born Son. That this baby boy had come to love, heal and restore, to raise the dead. Ultimately to one day deliver us all and rule the nations. And all of this began as fullness of God in a completely helpless infant. ‘…When you kiss your baby boy, you kiss the face of God.’ It is a beautiful song, which has been widely covered and reworked as I learned from a quick search on Soundcloud.
But the thing that strikes me is the ramifications and applications in today’s world. Even as a Christian I am often found searching after material ‘stuff,’ and being entertained by social media dopamine hits. I wonder how much harder it must be for people who, as yet, have not opened their hearts to Jesus. The distractions and temptations of all this time of year offers, the excess and the new shiny things. I know people who struggle with addiction and this makes things even more difficult, but He also specialises in setting captives free.
But, for me, when I choose to reframe my priorities and quieten myself and listen for the whispers from heaven, I find again why I responded as a child, and returned as an adult. That humblest of beginnings inside a manger in Bethlehem did change the world. The earth still knows his voice and creation still sings His praise. That little baby boy did not just become the Saviour of the world. He already was. Every fibre of everything was carefully and wonderfully woven by His hands.
I think Mary had some idea of that. The angel that appeared to her must have explained some of that to her. My hope is that I keep coming back to the truth of who that baby boy was, is, and is to come. And that I would turn away from the madness of the consumerist holiday and back to my first love. I hope that others I meet make the same choice, and find the greatest gift of the festive period. Mary knew. My friend, do you?
encouragement from someone who has been through the fire 