He will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace
Isaiah 9:6
This is a nice Christmas sentiment, isn’t it? Can you imagine being in Advent, being in waiting, for someone such as this? And to think that all of this will be placed on such a little babe, born in a manger.
How can we look at the Christ child as anyone other than these foretelling words written so many years before His birth? How can we make these words relevant today, and in our very lives? That is essentially why I wrote these words here. How can I bring the Christ child in my life today, over 2000 years after he was born?
Let’s break it down.
Wonderful Counselor – one of the things I like best in my relationship with Christ is that any time I need Him I know He is there. Anytime I called for Him I know He will answer. I know He takes care of the small things but He also takes care of the HUGE things. I know I have to ask, I know I have to listen, and I know I have to wait. Several years ago, when life was beating me up on a regular basis, I remember the good Lord telling me that if what I was trying to do was too hard then maybe I shouldn’t be doing it. And if what I was trying to do was easy, maybe that was Him making it happen in my life. I have learned to live by that and now share it with others as an example of the relationship I have with the Lord.
Mighty God – somehow this reminded me of Mighty Mouse. For those of you who are too young to know, there used to be a cartoon on Saturday mornings called Mighty Mouse. He was a super hero who happened to be a mouse. His theme song was “Here I am to save the day, that means that Mighty Mouse is on his way”. I can see this changed to “. . . that means that Mighty God is on his way”. And he is mighty. I think about his relationship with the sparrow,
- “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid, you are worth more . . . ” Matthew 10:29-31
I think about the mustard seed,
- “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain ‘move from here to there’, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20
My God is a mighty God indeed.
Everlasting Father – Our fathers are some of the most important people in our lives. Even if we never know our fathers we all come to realize that we could not be here without them. That seems so simple but biologically true. It is the same with God, our father. Think about this too, He never leaves us. He is always there. He may not be dominant in our lives, but that is on us, not Him. If we go to Him, He will always be there. Our fathers may leave us throughout our lives because of abandonment or death. But God, our Father, will be there, truly be there, throughout all of our lives. And we all crave a father’s love.
Prince of Peace – Man, don’t we need a prince of peace now? In thinking about it though, haven’t we always needed a prince of peace? There’s not an era in world history where a prince of peace was not needed. What about the peace in your mind, in your heart, in your soul? There are many times I just need peace in my mind. There is so much turmoil there. Has your heart ever hurt, just hurt? Mine does all the time. If the Lord enters my heart He erases the pain. I have to work often on my soul. Thank goodness the Prince of Peace resides there, if I just let Him.
At Christmas time, at a time that started over 2000 years ago, the Christ child, the babe, came into our world. He can do that, He can offer this, this magical gift only if we let Him. I am in advent, waiting for just that.
