"A Date Which Will Live in Infamy"

Tuesday - December 7th

Scripture to Read Today: Luke 2:1-15

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Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you;

he is the Messiah, the Lord.

Luke 2:11

Eighty years ago today, our nation absorbed the shock and loss of the attack on Pearl Harbor. So many American lives were lost - so much pain and destruction. The next day President Franklin D. Roosevelt said these words that echo through the halls of history: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked."

Roosevelt described December 7th as a "date that will live in infamy." Webster defines "infamy" as "extremely bad reputation, public reproach, or strong condemnation as the result of a shameful, criminal, or outrageous act." While our nation remembers that awful day, we do not want to forget how much our nation mourned. We know it was the thing that moved the United States into World War II. Infamy describes it so well.

While December 7, 1941, is one of the worst days in history, unfortunately, history has many such dates. I do not have enough space in this brief devotional to name all those dates. But it would not take us long to make a list of horrible days in world history.

One day that stands out as the opposite of a date that lives in infamy is the day of Jesus' birth. While he was born in a setting filled with chaos, His birth brought so much to our world. That day, the day Christ was born, changed everything for everyone. It is a day that will live on in glorious fame, not infamy.

The angels captured the importance of that day as they declared to the shepherds: "Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord" (Luke 2:11). I love the specificity with which the angels make their declaration, "Today." What a day!

As we move towards Christmas, be sure to slow down and recognize the value and beauty of the day Christ was born. We may not know the actual date, but we know it's glorious fame!

Thank God for the day Christ was born! That day was the most significant date in all human history!