Christmas in July!

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, four calling birds……….

It’s July, right?? Yes, but I ran across an email I wrote during the “Twelve Days of Christmas” and thought I would share it as a “Christmas in July” post.

The Twelve Days of Christmas actually begin on Christmas and end on January 5, Epiphany--or Three Kings Day. It is thought that the “Twelve Days of Christmas” song was a secret code song written during the persecution of the Catholic Church in England.

Day four of the song is the four calling birds’ day. According to the code, we celebrate that “my true love” (God) gave to us the four calling birds (the four gospels- Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Aren’t we glad He did!!

Consider the impact of the Gospel on the world, and personally in your own life. I thought about this last week. If it was up to me, and thankfully it wasn’t, I may have ordered them differently. Would I have put John first, to begin the New Testament with “In the beginning was the Word.” just like the Old Testament begins “In the beginning God created…?” Or would I have begun with Mark, whose gospel read like a screenplay--very action oriented--who starts with quoting Malachi and has John the Baptist in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord. Mark writes the fulfillment of prophecy from 400 years earlier at the end of the Old Testament. Or would I have chosen Luke, the “investigative reporter”. His gospel was based on eyewitness testimony and was meant for a very wide audience, to convince them that what they had heard about Jesus was true.

But God chose Matthew to begin the New Testament. Through His sovereignty, He chose the canon of New Testament scripture to begin with Matthew. Was this because Matthew cited so many Old Testament prophecies that were only fulfilled in Jesus? Was it because of the clear presentation that Jesus is the Messiah? I don’t know. I do know that each of the gospels is special in the God-breathed words that we read today. They each give us the Word of God.

And after you read them--your life can never be the same.

Thank your True Love for the four calling birds.