Good Tidings

And there were, in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

(Luke 2:8-11)

Meditation

God Almighty sent his angels to the lowly shepherds to give them the greatest news of all time. They must have been so afraid, but their fears turned to awe at the voice of the angle. The announcement of the birth of the long-awaited Messiah, who would bring salvation to all people was delivered to a handful of the dregs of Jewish society. Why wasn’t this news proclaimed to the kings and priests? Shepherds of that day were only slightly higher in stature than lepers. Why were they the ones the angels told? Jesus came to serve the lowly and the oppressed, while the highly-educated kings and priests should have been anticipating the birth of Christ.

This is the time of year when we should be embracing the good tidings of great joy. Instead, we’ve turned it into a shopping free for all, from before Thanksgiving until after Christmas. Instead of seeking the true meaning of this Christmas, our culture is concerned more with seeking the greatest deals. We’ll spend hours in stores or online to save a few dollars on the latest gadget. Some will go deep into debt only to discover their hard-fought-for gifts will be obsolete in just a few months. No wonder this time of year becomes depressing and hollow to so many. We have traded the true reason for this season for some trinket or gadget that has only a fleeting value.

All the while, the birth of the Christ child, the one who came as a servant to all, the one who came to save us, the one who died on the cross taking our sins with him; he is forgotten. There is nothing wrong with trying to save money on the gifts we buy, but let’s keep things in perspective. There is no gift worth turning us into squabbling idiots over the last doll or TV set on the shelf. We seem to think our loved ones won’t love us anymore if we don’t get them the latest and greatest gift on the market. If they don’t, we have been nurturing the wrong kind of feelings in them all along. We wouldn’t have a reason to give anyone a gift if Christ hadn’t been born. It doesn’t matter that Jesus probably wasn’t born in the month of December at all. We celebrate the fact that he was born and rejoice! Hallelujah!

Prayer Time

Father God, your glory shines throughout creation. We delight in the warmth of your mercy and grace. What a wonderful God you are. You have given us the greatest gift of all time. That being your only Son, to show us the way to be redeemed to you. We thank you from the deepest recesses of our hearts for Jesus. We understand that you would be justified in leaving us to our sinful desires and send us all to hell when we die. Because you are such a loving God, you would not let that happen without giving us an alternative. You are holy, Lord God, and you love even the lowest scoundrel among us and want all to repent and turn to Jesus. Please, give us that kind of love for the unsaved and help us to give them the good news of Jesus Christ. Soften the hardened hearts of those we love and make them more willing to receive the salvation message. We give you honor and praise forevermore. In Jesus’ name, we pray.