With the doom and gloom of the news, there doesn’t seem to be a lot that seems wonderful. However, when we really think about the world, there are some wonderful things to notice.

One of my favourite songs is Louis Armstrong singing ‘What a Wonderful World’. It speaks of colours, raindrops, friends, love, trees. As we look around at the physical world, there is so much that we can call wonderful – just the sheer delight of seeing a baby born into the world; the apple blossom on the trees that smell exquisite; the variety of fauna; the changing skies; the sunsets and sunrises. They all paint a picture of what creator God is like. He is called ‘Wonderful’ in several places in the Bible because what He has done and who He is make Him absolutely wonderful!

In the book of Proverbs (chapter 30) of the  Message Bible, the writer mentions 4 wonderful things seemingly insignificant but nevertheless amazing. He speaks of frail ants that get plenty of food in the summer to prepare for the winter; vulnerable badgers that arrange rock-solid homes; the leaderless locusts that can strip a field like an army regiment; and the easy to catch lizards that sneak past vigilant palace guards.

There are more wonderful things listed in Scripture, including a man hanging on a cross who came alive again after 3 days and went back to heaven from whence he had come. This, of course, is speaking of Jesus Christ – the man who is God.

The greatest wonder of all, in my opinion, is the way God came into our world through Jesus becoming a foetus first and then a human baby with no earthly father, his conception being by the Holy Spirit. Mary had such an amazing job to be the carrier and then the instrument used to help Jesus to grow up as any other human being. What a huge risk God took to let His Son come to our planet. Even though this event is wonderful, the gift presented to us in Jesus is even more wonderful. He is called ‘Wonderful Counsellor’ in Isaiah 9 amongst many other names. No man was like this One.

How our children need to know this wonderful true story of the birth that we celebrate at Christmas time. Happy Christmas!