a child is born

 Someone ,somewhere, who likes counting stuff has estimated that there have probably been around 117 billion people born on planet Earth.  Thats about 14 times the current population of the world

An awful lot of people. All of them different.  No two people - even the identical twins - the same.  All of them created in a womb as the result of a man and a woman coming together to make life.  Its a mind bending thought - well it is to me anyway.  And of those 117 billion people just one was the child promised by Isaiah - a child is born.

Only once has a woman been 'overshadowed by the Holy Spirit' and become pregnant by the seed - the Word of God.  One time in 117 billion.  

Of course Isaiah didnt know exactly how this child was going to be conceived and born and live. All he saw was a child. Ive heard Chapter 9:6 every year for 50 odd years but Ive only just realised that every time I have seen the Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father part in my minds eye I have seen the adult Jesus.  But thats not what Isaiah says.  He says a child is born and the government shall be on His shoulders. As a child. Not when He grows up.  The word in the Hebrew for child is  yeled - and it just means kid, boy, child, lad.  This baby, this toddler, this child, adolescent , youth, at every point in His life from His birth was the Mighty God. The Prince of Peace.  God didnt give His titles and authority and power to a regent until Jesus was old enough to assume responsibility for Himself.  He was Very God,  God of Gods and Lord of Lords.  From the moment of conception the nature of God fused with the nature of man to create an entirely new being.  The God Man. The Son of Man. Who carried His titles from the moment of His birth.  Even as a child.  Yet He was also the son of a peasant girl - an ordinary boy.

I remember being pregnant with our first baby.  The wonder and excitement is something else. That day I was lying stretched out in a warm bath and I felt the first kick.  Like someone very gently pinging an elastic band somewhere inside me. The knowledge that a person was growing in there, being knit together by God in my womb. Every baby is a complete miracle.  The ones that make it and the ones that dont. The ones that are longed for and those that arent. The ones born 'perfect' and those born in some way incomplete, different, lacking.  I think that every one comes with a title. A job description written in heaven just like Jesus did. This is baby Jones, or baby Smith, Warrior, Healer, Helper, Overcomer, Giver, Worshipper, Problem-Solver, Joy-giver, Teacher, Heart-healer, Friend,   Those of us who pray about our babies names often have a sense of who they are going to be and name them accordingly.  My kids are named ' Heard by God'  ' Salvation' and ' Beloved'

If that is true then you were born with a title too.  What did God say about you when you were born?

Maybe not that the government would be upon your shoulders 😊  But maybe that you would be a teacher of children, or a producer of food, or a friend to the lonely, or a bringer of joy.   If you dont know what your title is , ask five friends to tell you what they most value about you.  Those things will doubtless be part of your title.