There is a story, that came from the Alaskan Goldfields, long in the dim dark past, that has been handed down for generations, and it goes something like this. The town was just sprawling rough shacks, rough dwellings, slightly better than a tent, with disjointed dirt laneways that they sort of called streets, dusty in summer, frozen solid and snowy in winter, and just boggy mud for the rest of the time, it was rough, it was lawless and violent, the miners worked hard, drank booze hard, and they fought hard, living in a dirty grubby settlement, far beyond civilization. Even those who replenished their supplies were not that comfortable of ever visiting this settlement, but somebody was brave enough to haul in their regular supplies. Well one day a young lady gave birth to a beautiful and bonny baby girl, and in the midst of the squalor, she died upon delivering her baby. Very few women ever dared to live this far out, but a few even did, and the oldest game in the book, kept them sort of employed, but what to do with a baby? An old bottom drawer was pulled out, a dirty blanket dumped in the bottom, and in went baby, a nursing mother took her on and cared for her. A dirt blanket was not good enough for this wee baby, so somebody washed it clean, much better, a miner in his spare time whittled out a cradle, this looks so much nicer, but the mat in the room was dirty and threadbare, it was swiftly changed, then the floors got washed and cleaned, this made the walls look grubby, so they got washed, the dirty raggedy curtains were changed, but dirty windows stood out, so they got cleaned as well. Now we have a clean room for a darling wee baby girl, but the rest of the shack now looked filthy and grubby, so all the inside was cleaned, but then the outside was a mess, so it also got cleaned, but then this shack stood out from the rest, so day by day, windows got cleaned, trash was removed, shacks were cleaned inside and out, till finally the whole town was given a make-over, a re-creation.
Foul language subsided quickly, cannot have a wee baby girl hearing this, drunken brawls grew less and less, violence and crime ceased, a complete transformation took over, it was now a safe place to be in at night, as well as by day, all because of the birth of a baby girl. Ones mind drifts to another time, in another place, where a baby was born in squalor, actually in a barn, with the animals penned in for the night, all looking on as the birth took place, just inches away from them, Luke 2:4-8 “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Here we have the King of the Universe, the Creator of Heaven and Earth and everything in between, born in a barn, and his first bed was a feed trough, where the animals ate their meals from, in human terms, Jesus was born and laid upon their straw, or their breakfast meal, and that in human terms means that, Jesus was laid within your ‘Breakfast Bowl,’ Jesus actually laid upon your Breakfast-Cereal; now that is very humbling.This wee baby changed everything, the birth of the our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, changed the whole direction and conditions on Planet Earth, for those who accept the change this baby made, cleaned up their speech and behaviour, their homes become clean and more ordered, their hearts are clean and ordered, and so thus their lives become clean and ordered, their business dealings are completely ethical, they are kind and considerate, they are no longer rough brutes, for now love is in action, and clearly seen daily, and there is no longer the beatings of a callous clenched fist, behold all things have become new, when Jesus comes in, everything changes, both in their personal life, as well as in their environment, ‘by their fruits you shall know them,’ for it is so easy to pick out on the bustling street, all who have a transformed life, and those who are still living rough and aggressively; for Christians, that is the ‘Real Ones,’ stand out in a crowd, so how do people view you and me, do they see a ‘Christian,’ or a fake, a sham, a fraud, and a phoney, a semblance, even a very poor example, actually it is deceptive, as this person more clearly represents evil than anything else. But then a ‘Re-Birth,’ has made for a new life, ‘behold old things have passed away, behold all things are become new, say ‘Do you have Churchianity or Christianity?’ 2 Corinthians 5:32 “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Romans 6:3-4 “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” 2 Corinthians 5:32 “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” There was “The Baby that changed everything,” have they changed you yet??”
