‘When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”’ (v15) Luke 2:13–15
God speaks to provoke a response. He is never static. We live in an age where the goal is the accumulation of knowledge, but knowledge is there to enable us to perform better in life. So, all that we observe, encounter and mentally absorb is meant to find expression through our lives.
Social media creates armchair commentators. No one examines credentials for those making their statements, but by ‘liking’ what they say we propel personal opinions to universal significance.
Jesus was born before the world was networked. Yet, His birth in a cattle shed in the middle of nowhere laid the foundation for a global awakening.
God certainly announced the arrival of Jesus with a full concert of angels but their audience, the shepherds, was small and was left to choose how to respond. Jesus always wants to shake us out of our lethargy and take who we are and what we have in our hands and put us to work with purpose in His kingdom.
First, the shepherds had to find Jesus, then they started telling their story to whoever they met (Luke 2:20). So today, let’s invite God to shake us out of our lethargy.
Let’s respond by deliberately returning to Christ’s crib, discarding the wrapping paper, rich food and drink, and start to tell the story of Jesus’ impact and influence on our lives once more. Let’s consider how we can invest both who we are and what we have to hand in serving God first and foremost in this year ahead.
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER: Psa. 65; Jer. 31:27–34; Heb. 10:19–39; James 1:19–27.
AN ACTION TO TAKE: Ensure you find some time to step aside and kneel before Christ’s crib today. What can you commit to God today?
A PRAYER TO MAKE: ‘Lord, we glorify and praise You for all the things we have heard and seen, which are just as they have been told in Your Word. Amen.’ (Luke 2:20)
Photo by Dennis Jarvis on Flickr
