The Message of Christmas
“For there is born
to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this
will be the sign to you: You
will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." Luke
2:11-12
The sun rose slowly
over the hills and soon the lowing of the sheep penetrated the shepherds sleep.
They sat up, rubbing their eyes. One
stood and began to stir the smoldering ashes, adding wood to the fire. The air was very cold this morning. No one had spoken yet; the silence was almost
eerie and it seemed a shame to break into it. Then Josiah cleared his throat
and spoke quietly to the others, “I am wondering if I had a dream last night
about the sky being full of angels; we were all terrified. Then went down into Bethlehem and found a
stable with a newborn baby lying in one of the mangers.”
The others looked at him
and one by one they spoke and proclaimed it was not a dream, but it had really
happened. Then they all began talking
excitedly. “I also thought it was a dream but when I think about that little
baby we saw in the stable, I know it was true”, exclaimed Benjamin, the
youngest shepherd. He was just a boy,
but clearly had an understanding of what he had seen. “That wasn’t just any baby, you know; the
angels said he was the Savior; the Christ Child, the one spoken of in the
scriptures!”
“What about all the angels, did you
ever see anything like that in your life?
I’ve never heard of anyone who has seen the wonder of what we saw,”
added Matthias excitedly.
Then Jacob, the head shepherd stood
and spoke to the others, “I believe we were chosen by Jehovah to see this
amazing thing that has happened and we are to go tell everyone we meet about
it. Let us pass on the message the
angels gave to us; “Glory to God in
the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men! The
long-awaited Savior has come to earth; the Christ!”
The boy, Benjamin, jumped up and
grabbing his staff said, “His mother and father said his name was to be Jesus.
I will never forget that name.” Filled with excitement and great joy,
the shepherds hurried off to tell others what they had seen and heard.
That was the first Christmas
morning. When we awake on this Christmas
morning, what will be on our minds? Will
it be like the shepherds who talked among themselves about the wonder of what
they saw? Or will it be to proclaim to others, “Joy to the World; the Lord has come!”
Or will our heads be
filled with presents, lots of food and how we are going to spend the day? When
we get together with family and friends will our conversation be about the next
football game; a Christmas movie we saw, or will we talk about the fact that
Jesus, our Savior was born to save us from our sins? Will we be thankful that because of him we
can spend eternity in heaven; and have the assurance that he will come again?
I, for one, am determined when I
open my eyes this Christmas morning to thank God for sending his son, Jesus to
be our Savior. Help us not to compromise
as the world does by thinking only about gifts and fun, although there is
nothing wrong in that; as long as we keep Jesus first in Christmas.
I believe every family, or even if
you are alone, should read about the birth of the Christ Child from Luke 2:1-20
on Christmas Day. What hope and joy it
gives!
We should also make it a tradition
to greet one another on Christmas by saying, as the angels did, “Joy to the World; the Lord has come.” I
think I will add, “And
He is coming again!”
May you be blessed
this Christmas as you share the Good News!
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