Just as King Ahaz did not deserve the wondrous birth announcement regarding the Son of God, so the world did not deserve the Gift of Immanuel, the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. Just as Mary was overwhelmed by the fact that of all maidens of Israel, she was chosen to give birth to Messiah, so we rejoice because our merciful God has allowed us to know His Son and live on this earth at such a time.<\/p>\n
The terrified shepherds knew they did not deserve the angelic announcement: \u201cDo not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.\u201d (Luke 2:10-12)<\/p>\n
Shepherds were the last group most would have chosen as an audience for the heavenly host singing praises to God. They were poor, uneducated, disrespected citizens of Israel, yet God chose them to unveil His world-changing activity. I sometimes think, \u201cWho am I to experience God\u2019s extravagant love? Why is the Father so kind to me? I surely don\u2019t deserve it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The shepherds acted upon the revelation: \u201cLet\u2019s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.\u201d We too should be ready for action: \u201cLet\u2019s go visit\u2026 let\u2019s go serve\u2026 let\u2019s go tell\u2026\u201d This past spring, I had a dream about our friend Jim, who had returned to live on the streets of Atlanta. I often get very frustrated with Jim and in this dream I was angry because of his actions. When I awoke, I sensed God say: \u201cGo tell Jim about Taylor.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time, doctors had discovered a hole in our son\u2019s heart that had existed since birth. Jim has loved Taylor since he was a kid, but I had not thought to share his circumstance. I was scheduled to receive platelets at Emory the day of my dream, so I determined to go afterwards and try to find Jim, as the clinic is not far from where he usually stays.<\/p>\n
It was not easy, but I found him. I delivered the message about Taylor, visited a while, then returned to work. Has this event resulted in an about-face for our homeless friend? No\u2026 but perhaps the \u2018message\u2019 is the main point, rather than the desired response.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the shepherds had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what they had been told about this Child\u2026\u201d Did all the Israelites who heard the shepherds\u2019 amazing story eventually follow Jesus as faithful disciples? I doubt it\u2026 but perhaps the \u2018message\u2019 is the main point.<\/p>\n
The message is: God loves us all \u2013 rich, poor; old, young; educated, uneducated; Jew, Gentile\u2026 and He wants everyone to receive His everlasting love. Let\u2019s praise God for what we\u2019ve seen and heard. Let\u2019s allow Jesus\u2019 light to shine through our lives so the world will see and \u2018glorify our Father in Heaven.\u2019 (Matthew 5:16)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.\u201d Luke 2:20<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just as King Ahaz did not deserve the wondrous birth announcement regarding the Son of God, so the world did not deserve the Gift of Immanuel, the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. Just as Mary was overwhelmed by the fact that of all maidens of Israel, she was chosen to give birth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-joy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3210"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3212,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3210\/revisions\/3212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}