The baby

3,988,076. That's the number of babies born in one year in the United States. All of those babies become born without much of a fanfare. Celebrity babies get a bit more recognition, especially when their parents name them "Apple" or "Blue Ivy." But even celebrity babies are forgotten after a few short days on the Entertainment TV news real. Babies are a big deal to their parents and their immediate family. There aren't press releases for every one of the nearly four million babies born in a single year. The country doesn't stop and celebrate 335,000 times a day when a baby is born.
But we do celebrate one.
We celebrate Jesus.
Have you ever stopped to truly think about the wonder of the Savior of the world being born as a baby? Take a moment and let that sink in. A baby. A tiny, helpless being that can't speak or feed himself or even change himself. Through the most vulnerable means possible is how God choose to enter the world. He decided to come as one of the millions of babies born every year.
Jesus' entrance into the world was entirely average. According to scripture there wasn't even an earth quake or a unprecedented meteorological event. Nothing to alert the world that this one baby was about to change everything. The only sign that God gave the world was a star. That was Jesus' "big" birth announcement and it didn't even come with a trumpet's revelry.
And yet that one birth changed everything. That one single birth has been celebrated more than every other birth combined. The birth of a baby born in a stable to a young girl, surrounded by farm animals has been written about in more newspapers, press releases and books than any ruler, king or president. His is the only birth that is celebrated annually in every country in the world. And it has been, He has been, for thousands of years.
Suffice it to say, that little baby is kind of a big deal.
This Christmas some people will somehow miss the whole point of the celebration. They'll get confused and celebrate sugar plums. Instead of looking for a star, they'll look for Santa. But the blessed miracle of Christmas is that it only exists because of a baby. Even those that don't acknowledge the coming of the Savior are impacted by His birth. We all are. It is impossible to miss the celebration of the one baby that changed history.
So next time you hear someone avoid the word "Christmas" and replace the Savior's name with "Holiday" don't be discouraged. Instead, be full of joy because this world is still celebrating. The Savior is still alive and relevant and active in this world. He is still a very big deal. And He always will be. Because this world can't deny that something happened thousands of years ago in a little town called Bethlehem. A baby was born. And not just any baby but the one baby that would cause worldwide celebration every year and every day to come.