Editorial December 18, 1989 Issue

Receptive hearts and swift feet

Ann Kenrick

Christmas has a sense of urgency about it. The book of Isaiah, in the Old Testament, anticipates the swift approach of a messenger who brings important news to a waiting world. It declares, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"^{ Isa. 52:7.}

There is something compelling in this prophetic certainty of God's presence with His people. How badly our weary world, with its many sorrows, wars, and disturbances, needs to be reminded, "Thy God reigneth!" This was the message Christ Jesus brought to mankind. Even his Christly title, Immanuel, means "God with us."^{ Matt. 1:23.} The virgin birth broke through the conventions of mortal beginnings and endings in matter and revealed the man of God's spiritual creating. Jesus was literally the Son of God. He came to show humanity that, in reality, God is the Father of us all.

No wonder the shepherds and the wise men, when they heard of Jesus' birth, hastened to the manger at Bethlehem to discover the significance of this great event. And they were not disappointed; indeed, they were filled with joy when they saw the infant Jesus and recognized in him the promised Saviour. Their hearts were receptive to the Christ ideal Jesus represented, and they quickly broadcast the good news to others.

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