Day 21
Read: Luke 2:12-14
I grew up in the 1980’s so video games played a big role in my childhood. In many of these old games you could improve both your powers and your chances by grabbing a special object that would make your character glow and operate with super powers of near invincibility. Super Mario eating the mushroom was a total game changer!
When the Son of God was born into the world, He was born into humble circumstances. When the angels invite the shepherds to go see the baby they have announced, they did not give them an address, but informed them to find the baby who was lying in a manger. Why was this direction needed? Because Jesus was not glowing with super powers. He had no halo above His head. He looked like a regular baby, so the only way they could tell He was the Son of God was by finding the one baby in Bethlehem that night resting in an animal’s feeding trough. Jesus’ presence that night WAS a game changer, but at first it didn’t look that way.
To help validate the experience, a multitude of angels filled the sky and praised God together saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” The shepherds then had a moment. Would they listen to the Word of God delivered to them through the angels, or would they trust their eyes that saw a normal looking child in humble estate?
The same tension exists for you and I today. God has spoken His truth to us through His Word. Will we take God at His Word in the Bible, or will we trust our “eyes” instead? With our eyes we see people who believe in different paths to salvation through other world religions, and these people seem so sincere. Will we believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, or will we think that all religions are equally able to deliver salvation? With our eyes we see people trying to justify all sorts of behavior the Bible calls sin. Will we stay faithful to the biblical ethic or will we justify deviant behavior?
Like the shepherds, let us take God at His Word. 2,000 years later, the shepherds are heroes in our Christmas story because of their faithful response. Let’s follow their lead.
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