“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Romans 6:23.

 Today, I’m going to tell you my favorite Christmas story outside of the Bible. It’s a story of the grace of God to a single mother with two small boys.

The night was Christmas Eve, the year was 1943, the war in Europe was raging. The young mother had been abandoned by her husband, leaving her with two little boys, 4 and 2 years old. Her 2 year old was very sick, the country doctor who came to visit told her it was Meningitis and           the house. Her little boy had a fever that wouldn’t come down with aspirin and cool baths and he seemed to grow weaker and weaker. His mother was very poor, she didn’t have insurance or money for specialists and did not know what to do! Her father lived nearby and came to visit. He could see that unless they got help, the little boy did not have long to live.

Finally, grandfather said, “Bundle that baby up and we will take him to Children’s Hospital in Detroit.” So without delay, they rushed to the hospital driving through a snowstorm. It took over an hour. When they arrived, the doctors quickly examined him and did not give out much hope. One young resident doctor had seen another little boy the day before in the ER who seemed to have the same symptoms. They did x-rays and found the little boy’s intestines had turned inside out and had been that way for some time. They called it a “telescopic bowel” and at that time, very rare. They rushed him to surgery; he was in the operating room for a long time. The young mother prayed that God would be merciful and spare her son. After the surgery, it was touch and go. The young resident doctor left his holiday festivities and came to visit the baby. He told the mother if they had waited 2 more hours, the baby would have died. At that point, they were still not sure if he would make it.

The mother fell asleep in a chair and awoke to the sound of singing. It was Christmas morning, the doctors and nurses were walking the halls singing “Silent Night, Holy Night” and other Christmas carols. For the first time in weeks, she felt peace that God had heard her prayer. Soon the doctor came in and told her, “little mother, your baby is going to live!” She always said that was her greatest Christmas gift and from then on Christmas was always very special to both of them! God gave that baby 72 more years. He accepted Christ when he was 18 years old and served the Lord for many years. That baby was Pastor Terry and the young mother was his mother.

God is faithful! He hears and answers prayer. Terry received the gift of life that Christmas. You can receive a different gift of life, God’s gift of eternal life. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Romans 6:23. Receive God’s free gift this Christmas and make it the best one ever!!