The Best Christmas Gift Ever!

Entering this Christmas season was probably the most uncertain of any in the past 50 years. The reason: our daughter-in-law was “with child” and due to give birth on Dec 29th, so we were not sure where or when we would have Christmas dinner this year.

Christmas Eve at 1:30 AM (so technically Christmas morning) we received the message that the pains being experienced this time may prove to be labour (not false labour). We got up and made the 50- minute drive to our son’s house to care for our grandson, Ernest.  Eleanor Beatrix was born at 6:55 AM, weighing in at 6 lbs and 15 ounces, on Christmas morning, the day we celebrate the birth of Christ.

Holding that child in my arms gave me such an amazing sense of the miracle of birth. I could feel my little granddaughter breathing as she lay on my chest. She is so tiny and completely dependent on someone else for pretty much everything, except breathing. Thankfully, she is breathing quite well on her own. As she lay on my shoulder, I could not help but think about Christ who created all things, yet came to the earth as a baby completely dependent on someone else for pretty much everything, much like this baby in my arms. He gave “the breath of life” at creation and is Lord of the earth yet, at Christmas, we celebrate how He came as a baby. The baby Jesus now received the gift of breath that we all take for granted. We breathe without giving it a thought.

In the book, Whisper, Mark Batterson says something very interesting about every breath we take.  Incidentally, a whisper is defined as using one’s breath, rather than one’s vocal chords.

According to Jewish tradition, the name for God, Yahweh, was too sacred to pronounce. But there is another tradition within Judaism, that believes that the name for God, Yahweh without the vowels—Yod, Hei, Vav, Hei—is synonymous with the sound of breathing. So on one hand, the name is too sacred to pronounce. On the other hand, it’s whispered with each and every breath we take. It’s our first word, our last word, and every word in between. We speak the name of God about 23,000 times every day! It’s in Him that we live and move and have our being. He is the breath of life!

What an amazing thought: “We speak the name of God” with every breath we take. Our life has a purpose which is to bring glory to God. My prayer is that my life in 2020 will reflect God’s glory!

My wish for you is that you are grateful for the breath given to you and also that you use it to bring glory to your creator in 2020! Happy New Year!