WELCOME HOME

Today something unusual  happened.  I was in line at a store today and a man and his wife were checking out and being assisted by the clerk.  Another couple was behind them and the second man said to the first, "That is a nice coat. When and where did you serve.  "The Coat" he referred to was a military jacket with patches on it. You may have seen veterans wear them. As I listened, they both served in Vietnam at the same time, one on the north side and another in the southern part of that war torn region.  It was the next statement that caused me to dictate it immediately into my phone. The first man stepped away from the clerk, outstretched his hand and said, "Welcome Home. Thank you for serving our country." Wow, Welcome Home? As I pondered that touching reunion, it hit me.  Those and some of you who served in Vietnam prayed to just live through it and make it home.   The victory for some was just making it through the war alive and coming home.

When I think of Christmas, it is overwhelming that Mary carried the Savior of the world.  The safest place that the Christ Child would  physically be would be in His mother's womb, and  think about the many times she would say to him as a boy and young man, "Welcome home."

That Savior would one day be brutally beaten and nailed to die on a cross.  Watching it all unfold would be His precious mother.  Jesus Died so that Mary, and those of us who have given our lives to Christ could hear Him one day say, "Welcome Home."   We believe everyone is going somewhere when they die.  Are you going to Heaven?

Luke 1:30-35 (NKJV)
³⁰  Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
³¹  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.
³²  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
³³  And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
³⁴  Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"
³⁵  And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.