December 25

My name is Jimmy, and the verse today is Luke 2:20.  Of course, all of this is centered around the Christmas story in Luke’s gospel. It is a story we all know by heart; most of you can say it word for word since you have heard it repeated from childhood. It is a great story, of course, but many times, we tend to gloss over some of this because it is so familiar. Let’s delve into this a little deeper.  The angel came before the shepherds in the field late at night, as we are told in verse 10. She told them about the birth of their Savior, who is the Messiah.  I am sure the shepherds were scared to death, but this is a pretty big claim ……… important words that would have caught the attention of these Jewish shepherds. So even though they were afraid, they decided to go see what was going on.  Wow! What a night!

They went into Bethlehem and were overwhelmed with wonder and joy!  Do you think they understood the magnitude of this event?  I doubt it, but I’m sure they knew it was a really big deal.  We have 2000 years of history to add to this story, and we know just how big a deal this was. But even now, sometimes we gloss over it as just so many scriptural words. The shepherds returned to the field, glorifying and praising God as told in verse 20.

So what does this mean to us?  I like to put myself into the shoes of biblical characters and ask myself what I would do.  What would I think?  I think we should glorify God by worshipping at church every Sunday, and by singing songs of praise every Sunday. I think we should glorify God by our gifts to the church, both financial and in service, and participation in the ministries of the church, every Sunday and all throughout the year. This baby that we read about is OUR savior as well as the shepherds, and I am so blessed by his presence in my life every day.

Prayer: Dear Lord, please help us to fully grasp the meaning of your sending your precious Son the live with us and show us your perfect love, every day, not just at Christmas. In his name. Amen.