By Richard Wurmbrand
"Unto us a child is born" (Is. 9:6).
In the Hebrew original this prophecy about the coming of the Savior continues as follows: "Unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, heroic God (El Ghibor)...."
It was surely a heroic decision to leave heaven and the world of angels, having decided for Himself to be born in a stable, to be in danger of death from early childhood, to live an entire life of sorrow which end would be crucifixion, for the salvation of mankind who would show no gratitude for this sacrifice. Our Lord knew that ultimately good would triumph because of this sacrifice, so He made it.
Christmas is the memorial of the birth of a heroic God.
The main feature of His followers is heroism. Shallowness and lukewarmness do not belong to Christianity.
A renowned preacher, whose father had been a drunkard and his mother a pious woman, was taught by the latter from early childhood a particular spiritual exercise. He would put on the floor a wine glass, playing cards, dice, pornographic magazines, some money, his own picture, and would trample on it all, shouting, "No! No!" And again, "No! No!" Then he would say to himself, "I belong to a heroic God, and I will always say 'No!' to any temptation to sin."
Let us commemorate the Nativity of a divine hero, forsaking the comfortable ways and making the decision which all heroes in history have made: "To win or to perish, but never to yield."
