The Christmas Story

Well, I’ve written my own version of the Christmas story … and I decided to share it with you today. Notice that it is a somewhat rough draft and still needs some work.

The Christmas Story by Kellyn Roth

Once upon a time in a faraway land over 2,000 years ago, there was a little girl. She wasn’t a particularly good little girl. She was just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill child.

This little girl (her name was Mary, by the way) always tried her very best to be good, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t be. No one could. And because they couldn’t be perfect, they had to be imperfect. And no one with an imperfect soul can get into heaven.

You see, Mary lived in a time when there was no grace.

What? you say. No grace?

Yes. No grace. You had to pay the punishment for your sins. There was no one to pay it for you. And since the punishment for sin is death, everyone died.

That’s sad, you say. What a terrible time to live in!

I know! It was horrible! Thankfully, Mary (and all her people) had hope because God had promised to send someone to save them.

The people didn’t exactly understand what God meant, though. When He said, “I’m going to send a Savior!” they thought the Savior would come with trumpets and thunder and a great roaring. They thought the Savior would sweep away their enemies and climb the highest mountain and sit on the peak and reign!

But that wasn’t what was going to happen.

The Savior was going to come quietly, softly, inconspicuously, and lay down in a barn.

Wait a minute, I remember this story ….

Anyway, when Mary was a teenager (probably about fourteen or fifteen), she was visited by an angel. Angels are God’s messengers and soldiers.

“Greetings, highly favored one! The Lord is with you!” the angel shouted.

Mary was terrified. Angels are very big and bright and loud.

“Don’t be afraid,” said the angel, realizing he’d come on to strong at first because he was so incredibly excited to tell Mary what God had told him to say. “God is very pleased with you and you’re going to have a baby! You are to name Him Jesus. He will be called the Son of the Highest and will reign over the world forever!”

Mary was shocked. She was going to have a baby?  She was engaged to a carpenter named Joseph … but she hadn’t married him yet. It was impossible!

“How can this be?” Mary asked, squirming uncomfortably.

“Don’t worry, Mary,” said the angel. “The baby you’re going to be having will be the Son of God.”

And of course, Mary understood instantly.

So Mary thought all this was normal?

I’m getting to that, I’m getting to that.

Mary understood that when God tells you to do something (as in, give birth to His Son), you must do it no matter what. So she said, “I am the Lord’s servant! Let it be to me as you said.”

Besides, remember, Mary had been looking for her Savior all her life. She was incredibly excited and happy that He was finally coming … and she knew that she was wonderfully blessed to get to be His mother. It was an honor beyond all honors for a wicked creature of the flesh such as Mary to be allowed to have Jesus as her baby.

Joseph, the man who Mary was engaged to, was not very happy when Mary told him that she was going to have a baby, but the angel spoke to Joseph in a dream and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife because the baby she was having was God’s Son who had come into the world to save it.

After his vision, Joseph quietly married Mary. Afterwards, they had to travel to a small town called Bethlehem. While they were there, Mary gave birth to a Son. Because there was no room for them in any of the inns, they had to stay in a smelly old stable and Baby Jesus had to sleep in a manger instead.

And that’s what we’re celebrating every December on the 25th. We’re celebrating the birth of a baby in a stinky barn.

If that was the end of the story, Christmas would be a pretty lame holiday, wouldn’t it? But that Baby didn’t stay a baby. The Baby grew up and became a great teacher and performer of miracles. He claimed to be the Son of God in flesh. But the people didn’t believe Him so they nailed Him to a cross and He died. Or so they thought.

The most incredible miracle is that three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. And when He defeated death … He opened a way so we could defeat death, too.

Through Him, we no longer have to be afraid of dying, because we have been washed clean with His blood.

He has cleansed us of the sins that would drag us down into hell.

He has built a bridge across the chasm between God and man.

And now there truly is hope, for no matter what happens, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, forever and ever.

And someday Jesus is coming back to gather those who believe in Him. He could be coming in a thousand years or in the next five minutes. Are you going to be ready?

And that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! 😉

Only 17 days, 5 hours, and 50 minutes until Christmas! 😀 I can hardly wait!!! 🙂

God bless you all!

~Kellyn Roth