It was late in the evening... and since it makes for a romantic story I'll go with it, since I am a romantic myself.
Some dirty, stinky shepherds are huddled around a fire swapping stories and boasting about their skills with a sling. When suddenly (that means without warning so I wont be redundant and say "and without warning") there is a dude floating in the sky who is gleaming with the radiance of God's glory! Wow! Have you ever been in the middle of nowhere at night? I mean, no cities around. No street lights. Dark. Imagine the strain on your eyes when you are met with the radiance of God's glory on a black Bethlehem hillside night! Their fire must have seemed like a Bic lighter on a hot Kansas day!
And then the angel speaks, tells them the wonderful news of the birth of the Messiah and is joined by, "the armies of heaven"! Thousands...millions of angels all singing praises to God! I can't imagine the glory and fear and awe that surely accompanied this great sight!
And once the angels leave the shepherds figure they will go and see if what they just heard about is really true. Sure enough, they find Jesus just like the angels had said. The shepherds then go and, "tell everyone" what they had seen and heard and what the angels said about Jesus, that He was the Messiah.
But look what happens next... they prove the angels announcement. They tell anyone who would get close enough to them to listen. They go back to work.
Huh. Interesting. Here's my thought. Would I go back to work the day after millions of angels announced the birth of the Messiah to me? Would that announcement and my discovery of the baby change my life? Or would I just go back to work.
The birth of Jesus changed history. The shepherds SAW the promised Messiah - they met him face to face. They got all excited and told some people and then, back to the old grind-stone.
When I have a "come to Jesus moment" I want my life to be different. But the tug of the familiar, the consistency of the grind. The comfort of the continual. The promise of a pay-check are hard things to just walk away from. So, many of us meet Jesus and then go back to work. Unchanged. Unmoved. Unaffected by the presence of the Savior.
God, help me to be changed. Help me to overcome the rut, the comfortable, the confined and live for You. Abandoned to Your Will. Appropriated to Your Spirit. Accustomed to Your Call. Changed.
Thoughts on the Bible, Church, life and living it to its full potential in Jesus Christ!
2 comments:
This is very true and reading this message really brings me back toany services where I felt a deep connection with the Lord. Leaving Church that very day I'm already focused on what remains before work the next day.
Many times my wife will even comment on the service and I'll have little, if anything, to add. Thinking about this saddens me that I can't even open up to my wife about something so deep due to vulnerability. More important it makes me realize how quick I can fail at being a true disciple.
Next time I have a moment I'm going to make an effort to share it with my wife. Then 2 people, 3 people, etc. It's time to come out of my shell and be the leader God made me!
Ryan, let me pray for you. Lord, God, give Ryan the strength he needs to not only open us to his wife (for that connection is vital) but to "tell everyone" who will listen about what has happened to him, what you've done for him through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Make him into the man, husband, You want him to be and know he is. Amen.
God bless you Ryan.
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