Article December 13, 1982 Issue

Christmas and conception

BARBARA-JEAN STINSON

Jesus' nativity—the virgin birth—is a wonderful story retold every Christmas season. But does it have real meaning to us today? There is much to be learned from the attitude of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

When Mary was told that she was going to be mother of the promised Messiah, she was frankly incredulous. How could that be? She was a virgin. But then her thought was suddenly illumined with the spiritual realization that God is the Father of man. The angel spoke to her inquiring thought: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."^{Luke 1:35.}

Her reply has an extremely important point for us to grasp if we're going to discern more of the practicality of the Christmas message in our lives. The Bible verse reads, "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."^{Luke 1:38.}

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