A Child Is Born

A Child Is Born

A child is born to us,a son is given to us.

Isaiah 9:6

To announce the church’s annual Christmas service to the community, the business committee decided to hang a huge sign outside the church. The theme of the service would be “Unto Us a Child Is Born.”

Because there was no sign shop in their small town, the committee appointed one of the deacons to drive to a nearby city and purchase the sign. They wrote the sign’s measurements, along with the title, on an index card and gave it to the deacon.

The next day the deacon set out for the city. Pulling into the parking lot of the Quick Signs shop, he began looking for the index card that contained the information he would need for the order. Somehow he had lost the card. Now what? he thought.

Glancing down the row of businesses in the shopping center where the sign shop was located, he noticed Western Union at the far end of the center. That’s it! he thought. I’ll send a telegram to the church and get the information.

The man walked to Western Union and wrote out a telegram that said, “Lost card. Send information again. Waiting here.”

The telegraph operator quickly transmitted the message, and the deacon sat down in a chair to wait for the response. Ten minutes later the response came in. But the deacon was shocked when the telegraph operator read the message and fainted right on the spot.

Reaching over the counter, the deacon picked up the message, which read, “Unto us a child is born—eight feet long, six feet wide.”

Father, thank you for this wonderful season of celebrating your Son’s birth. May his light shine brightly into every dark corner of the world during this time and always. Amen.