Loving God of this special season, bless and protect the life and needs of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Nellie and I are on the road and this devotional is being written on the Mac side of my laptop; this may mean your letters may appear with strike-throughs. I pray that is not so with everyone, but some of you do get them and makes it hard to read. I invite you to the blog where this same devotional will appear without strike-throughs: http://TheUniversityOfTheWay.blogspot.com. Pray for our safe return later today to Texas.
Our text for today comes from Luke 2: 1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed . 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed , every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was , that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered . 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes , and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field , keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 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 . 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold , I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes , lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying , 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 15 And it came to pass , as the angels were gone away from them into heaven , the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass , which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste , and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things , and pondered them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned , glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen , as it was told unto them. (KJV)
It seemed as if all the world was on Seventh Avenue, New York City two nights ago. The languages and appearances of people made us know the world was here. Too numerous to count, one person said (in English), "We're not walking, we're waddling!" And it was true. We could not take full strides of a walk, we walked in mini-steps and we were pushed from side to side, just like ducks as we waddled to our destination. And we had to keep changing destinations because the crowds just waiting to get inside those were incredibly large. The famous coffee shop, about 50 deep outside in the cold, waiting to get in to warm up with a coffee, hot tea or hot chocolate. The large store for toys, with a ferris wheel in the center and three stories of toys, also, too many folks just waiting to get in. Years ago, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale said, "And all this because of a little baby born some two thousand years ago."
We act, though, as it is our birthday. We have lists or have been put on lists naming our requests for OUR presents. We will await Christmas Eve or Christmas morning to see what we received. Yesterday's newspaper had a photo from Catalan, España, where children line up to see a "king" who takes their requests and promises to take those lists to the Three Kings, who are the ones in that part of the world who delivers the gifts. I pray that in spite of the lights and trees and Santas, we not lose the wonder and awe of that which God did on our behalf on that special night. The model of the shepherds' response should be ours as well; frightful at first, later realizing that God did indeed act in this special way, their lives were never the same. That last verse in today's passage, verse 20 says, the shepherds left "glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen."
May it be so in our lives that we realize that God does love us and enough so, that God worked in that special part of the world in a special way. May that little baby's birth be the symbol of our re-birth to the things of God not just at Christmas, but all the time.
PRAYER: Loving God, we pray that the birth of Jesus be our birth to the newness of a life lived in the spiritual realm, seeing with His eyes the things You have brought in our midst. May the wonder and awe of Christmas never leave us. We pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
