The Christmas Story and the Choice for Life

Can you imagine what it must have been like to be Mary? She was a 14 or 15 year old girl, a virgin, betrothed to a man named Joseph, living in a time period when being pregnant outside of marriage was a very shameful thing. In this day and age, getting pregnant out of wedlock is pretty typical. In Mary's time it was shameful, disgraceful- scandalous. Put yourself in her shoes for a moment.

Imagine God the Father sending the angel Gabriel to your house one day to deliver a message. The message is this; You will conceive a son. His name will be Jesus and He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. Whoa. You are, of course, in a state of slight shock and confusion- you find yourself asking, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?". Gabriel's reply is "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy- the Son of God."

You have just been told that you will conceive and give birth to the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace- the Son of God. You're young, engaged to be married, and living in a time and place where you will be, at best, looked down upon. You could very likely have to leave your home and family, and possibly be stoned to death. I believe it's safe to say that most of us wouldn't be too enthusiastic about this situation. But what was Mary's response?

"Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.". And then she proceeded to sing praises to God!

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name." -Luke 1:46-49

And what about Joseph? The girl he was planning to marry was unexpectedly pregnant, and not by him. If you were in his position, what would YOU have done? This obviously wasn't a walk in the park for him, either! The Bible said that he was a just man and unwilling to put Mary to shame, so he planned to call off the marriage.  But an angel appeared to him in a dream and said,

"Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." -Matthew 1:20-21

You know what Joseph did?


"When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him..." -Matthew 1:24

He did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. Unlike so many men we encounter at abortion mills, Joseph wasn't a coward; he decided to do the right thing and not take the easy way out. Both of these people's lives were flipped completely upside down, and it was hard; but they placed their trust in the Lord instead of taking matters into their own hands. Because of their faith in Him, Jesus was brought into this world to die for you and me so that we could be forgiven by God and escape an eternity in hell!

The point is this: if they did it, so can you. No matter your circumstance.



~ Kaitlin