Born a Babe

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.  ²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
 ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
 ²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Talking Points:  Jesus came down from Heaven as God’s Son so that we could learn more about Him and His Father and so that one day we could have a way to go to Heaven. Jesus was born in Bethlehem and His parents were Mary and Joseph.  His parents named him Jesus because God told them to name Him that.

Questions: Did you know Jesus was God’s Son? Did you know He came into the world as a teeny, tiny baby? What kinds of things do babies need to be taken care of?

Activity: Thumb through some old kids magazines with your child and cut out pictures of babies. As you do so, talk about how the kinds of things babies need, like having their diapers changed, being fed milk, or cuddling. Explain that Jesus was a baby and he would have had those same needs.  Then glue these pictures onto a sheet of paper and save this for tomorrow’s devotional.

Phew–got tired after we glued one picture–ha!

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son as a tiny baby to save the whole world. Amen!