AY HAPPY BIRTHD ay Verse of the Da son, and you are h to She will give birt e he me Jesus, becaus na e th to give him . le from their sins will save his peop —Matthew 1:21
Read
Matthew 1:18–25
T
he room was decorated with brightly colored balloons. In front of Dylan was a beautiful cake with candles on it. “Let’s sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to the birthday boy, shall we?” Mum said. Suddenly, a girl stepped forward and yelled, “I’m not singing! I just want to eat the yummy food!” Then, a boy stepped forward and shouted, “I’m not singing either! I just want a present for myself!” One by one, the children turned to each other, saying: “I want a present too!” “Let’s just eat and go!” “But . . . ” Dylan stammered. “It’s my birthday!” He let out a wail . . . . . . and woke up. Dylan got out of bed and ran into his parents’ room. “Mum, I had a bad dream! It was my birthday but everybody at the party just wanted food and presents for themselves. They didn’t
40
FOOD
Pra yer Lord even wish me happy birthday!” Dylan , than k that whimpered. Jesus you was to sa “Oh, Dylan, it was just a dream,” born ve sin. T us from Mum comforted him. “None of your ou hi want s Christm r a to ca friends have ever been like that in s, I re prese nts a less abo real life, right?” ut nd more abou food, an Dylan nodded. Mum d t Jesu s. continued: “But, come to think of it, we may behave like that sometimes. You see, Christmas is round the corner and it’s when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. But, sometimes, all we focus on is what presents we’re going to get and what yummy food we’ll be eating. How do you think Jesus might feel about this?” “He might feel upset, like I felt in my dream,” Dylan admitted. Mum said: “Christmas is the one time in the year when special effort is made to remember Jesus, our Lord and Savior, being born to save us from our sin. So, let’s make the effort to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas this year, shall we?” —RW
tion Reflec a rate Jesus’ bir th? Write What can you do to celeb Him to s nk tha d express your bir thday card to Jesus an us from our sin. for being born to save 41