BABIES…are special to everyone. And, of course, the cutest one ever is yours! We just welcomed Lily Jane D’Spain into our family. Fourth great grandchild. The soft skin, the innocence and the total dependency make them a joy to hold, and behold. The thing I liked most was when they first grab your finger and hold on; you’re hooked! And in a blink, they are a toddler, a child, teenager and adult. Babies are probably the most photographed of all creatures.
There were two very special ones that entered the world round about the same time, a little over 2,000 years ago in Nazareth. Both were tiny and had to be cared for like all others. Similar to every baby, but very unique in the history of mankind. One preceded the other by a few months. They were actually kin through their mothers’ side of the family. The first was born to an older, barren woman; while the other was given birth by a young unwed girl. John the Baptist was the ‘last of all the prophets’, while Jesus the Christ was the ‘first of all creation’. I would believe that they often played together and shared many experiences as children.
One was born to ‘point the way’, while the other ‘was the Way’. The older would come to eventually baptize the younger, whereas the younger would eventually die for the older. The first diminished, while the last increased. Elizabeth, did you know; Mary, did you know…that your Baby Boy…let’s let Buddy Greene and Mark Lowry finish the thought.
…would one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your Baby Boy
Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your Baby Boy
Has come to make you new;
This child that you delivered
Will soon deliver you?
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
Will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
Will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know your Baby Boy
Has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your Little Baby,
You kiss the Face of God?
Oh, Mary, did you know?
Oh, Mary, did you know?
The blind will see, the deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dump will speak
The praises of the Lamb!
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
Is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
Will one day rule the nations?
Did you know your Baby Boy
Is Heaven’s Perfect Lamb?
This sleeping Child you are holding
Is the Great I Am?
One never knows the life and destiny that lies ahead of a little newborn baby. While yours and mine will assuredly not be the Savior of the world, they can be used as John was. He became obedient to the call that God placed on his life, even ending in martyrdom at an early age. But those two parents, Elizabeth and Zachariah, were godly parents, training and equipping him from early childhood to serve his God. “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Lk.2.52); and I dare say, so did John. “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov.22.6).
The babies entrusted to you as parents are yours to disciple in the ways of the Lord, empowered by the Spirit of Mary’s Baby Boy.