I was ' talking' to one of the new babies in Church this morning. Isabel. She is about four months old - a tiny bundle of smiling toothless helplessness in her Mum's arms. Gorgeous. But utterly dependent and vulnerable. And yesterday I heard that another of the young women in church is expecting her third baby next year. That will be five babies born to our congregation in the course of a year!! Must be something in the water :-)
I can never ponder long on the meaning of Christmas without coming back to the miracle of birth. And in particular the astonishing thing that God did in becoming an embryo in the belly of a poor teenage peasant girl in an occupied country. At a time when there were no hospitals or antibiotics. Where there was no welfare system. And where the local mad King put out an edict to slaughter all the baby boys. Risky?? Just a little bit.
How many things could have gone wrong during that pregnancy, that birth? Poor Kate has been in hospital being violently ill during the first weeks of her precious first pregnancy. Maybe that was Mary too. Mother of a royal baby and a future King, but without any of the attendant luxuries of private hospital and medicines and saline drips to keep her going.
Of course Mary didn't have any of the attendant hoo ha that poor Kate and William have had to deal with. No hoax phone calls and suicides. We really should be praying for Wills and Kate you know, they have it hard, they are in the front line and the enemy fights dirty. We need to be praying for this baby - for God's protection and blessing and anointing on him or her.
And praying that this Christmas in particular, as they attend church services and hear the gospel message that more of the truth will resonate with them as they consider the incarnation. This Christmas, Kate will identify more than at any time in her life with that young girl in Nazareth who found herself carrying a King.
Lord Jesus
At this time of year we once again stop to marvel at the fact that you took on human flesh and came to live among us as a man. To show us the nature and character of God. But You chose to come as a baby, a foetus, an embryo in the womb. You did not just leave heaven to become a man, but you left every known security to become as vulnerable and helpless and dependent as it is possible to be.
Thank you that you understand what it is to be human. Thank you that you have been a baby in the womb like William and Kate's baby. Like the babies in my church. Thank you that you value those tiny lives so much. We pray today for Kate and her baby and ask that you would keep them safe. Place your hand upon this royal child and form him or her completely and perfectly. Settle the sickness and strengthen Kate to manage the rest of this pregnancy with the eyes of the world upon her. Bless them as a family and speak to them this Christmas time about the miracle of the incarnation.
That future kings and queens of this country may be Godly prophetic leaders in their generation. Amen
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