It doesn’t say it in the Bible, but can’t you picture those dirty shepherds, smelling like sheep coming to the manger that night to adore and worship with child. Then Mary says, “Would you like to hold him?” They say, “No that is okay, we are not really cleaned up.”
To that Mary says, “You yourself said ‘He is the Savior born to you, who is Christ the Lord,’ draw him close to your heart, touch him. He has come for you.”
No wonder they returned, glorifying and praising God, for the God that was far away, came to touch them, to dwell with them. You see, shepherds at the time of Jesus were scorned as shiftless, dishonest people who grazed their flocks on others’ lands. These were the outcasts, and God came to them to tell them of his coming.
While we don’t know for certain how the shepherds looked or smelled when they came to Christ, we do know that the announcement wasn’t made to the rich and famous, but to the poor and lowly. There’s a place for everyone at the foot of Christ. Gather around the manger. Smell the hay. Don’t worry about getting cleaned up. That’s why he came. You can’t get cleaned up. Just come as you are. Come let us adore him. Christ came so that your sins, your life, might be cleaned as white as snow. Come. Let us worship him!
Christmas CollectionGames and Activities helping youth discover the Reason for the Season.
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Read Luke 2:8-14 from your Bible
Read Micah 5:2,4-5
Read: Psalm 17:6-8
A young man once dreamed that he held an unlit candle in his hand. Nearby, Jesus stood by peacefully with a candelbra. The young man moved forward and Jesus lit the candle with his own. As the young man moved off into the darkness, eager to share his new light, his own breath blew out the flame. The young man turned back to see Jesus standing there, still peacefully holding the light. He returned hesitantly and held out his candle a second time. Christ gently and lovingly lit the candle again. As he moved away a second time, his breath again blew out the flame. Once more he looked back, expecting some reproach, but none came. The Master gently relit the extinguished candle. Once more the young man started out. The pattern was repeated, but the young man noticed something he had missed before. Each time he had gone farther before he lost his flame. With a lighter heart he returned once more to the Source, and again started out into the darkness.
Imagine that you have been invited to Thanksgiving dinner at the home of the richest man in the world. You pull up a chair at a table two football fields long that’s piled high with so much turkey, dressing, potatoes, bread, carrot cake, pumpkin pie, mixed vegetables, milk, and anything else you can think of that the table is about to break under the load. Your host tells you to take your fill of anything you see.
At the root of God’s agenda is this promise. Think of it as a guarantee. The One who started ‘the good work within you’ won’t leave the task unfinished. At the end of the course, God won’t get an ‘incomplete.’ For sure, He won’t fail! Remember, it takes four seasons to make a year.