a different kind of Christmas thought...

ive been thinking about Christ's birth lately and martyrs of the centries who have died in defense of the gospel.
I simply cannont shake the thought of Herod's death order that night.

Have you ever wondered about the babies who died that night in Bethlehem. Have you ever taken a moment to appreciate what thier part in Christ's story is, or of the parents of those babies?

I have known parents who have prayed and prayed for the blessing of a child, read in the scriptures of women such as Hannah and Sara and Elizabeth who have come to the Lord in hopes that He would bless them with a child. I have seen thier joy when that little boy or girl arrives and have been able to watch these little joys grow up through the years.

I have also known many mothers and fathers who have experienced or are experiencing the grief of losing a child due to miscarriage, illness, or even suddenly. I have known parents of children who are sick and hurting. I have witnessed thier tears and been burdened for thier pain and grief.

The men and women who lost thier precious little boys that night in Bethlehem were no exception to the reality of grief and loss experienced when one loses a child. Its merely stated in scriptures as a point in history, but i dont think we should belittle what they went through.

I wonder if, in the many who recieved Christ some 30 years after that night, did they know they were worshiping and following the very one who was the reason for thier child's death? Im not at all trying to cast blame on Christ for this incident, or neglect that Christ's birth was most important. I am just simply sitting here thinking about what me, as a woman, as a human, would have maybe thought if it were my child who died.

Would i have been able to worship and follow Christ whole heartedly if i were to have known it was because He came into the world that my innocent little child had not had a chance to live. Would i see it that way, or would i look at it as a privilege to be apart of His coming. He is my savior, He is the reason I have hope.

makes me wonder, knowing what i know of Christ, and of God's love, (thinking way into the future here), when im holding my own little one one day, will i ever be able to fathom the possibility of losing my precious child for the sake of the Cross?

I dont know, i still can't fathom what Abraham went through with Isaac on that mountain, i hope i never have to.
(is that bad?)
Jim Elliot once stated "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
i wonder, am i a fool?

Thank you little ones who lost your life that night in Bethlehem. I wonder if you know what your death helped accomplish in this world? I wonder if you are sitting by Christ's throne with Him, celebrating His birth.