Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

December 25– Morning

 by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and edited by W. C. Neff

“Behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a son and will call his name Immanuel.” 

—Isaiah 7:14

Let’s take a moment today to “go down to Bethlehem,” and in company with wondering shepherds and adoring Magi behold him who was born King of the Jews. By faith we certainly have an interest in him and can sing joyfully, “Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given.”

Let’s notice at the very first glance his miraculous conception. It was a thing unheard of before and unparalleled since– that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son. The promise from Isaiah was that he would be, “The seed of the woman,” and not the offspring of a man. Since a woman had led the way into the sin which caused Paradise to be lost, she, and she alone, ushers in the One who regains Paradise for us.

And let’s not fail to note his humble parents. His mother has been described simply as “a virgin,” not a princess or prophetess or a matron of a large estate. True, the blood of kings ran in her veins, and her mind wasn’t weak and untaught, for she composed a glorious song of praise to God; but how humble was her position in life, how poor the man to whom she was engaged, and how miserable were her accommodations when she birthed the new-born King!

Immanuel means “God with us”, and he is with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our punishment, and in our grave. And, more than that, he is now with us— or, perhaps more accurately, we are with him in his resurrection, ascension, and triumph forevermore.  [M&E]