The wait is almost over. The day is almost here. May your homes be filled with joy and peace as you share the glad tidings of Christmas with your dear loved ones.
Happy Anniversary to my wonderful parents as they celebrate 61 years together! Isn’t that awesome?
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And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
Luke 2:8 – NIV
When it comes to the Christmas story, the figures that always capture my attention are the shepherds. I’m not quite sure why. Perhaps because they are ordinary, just like me. No glitter, no glitz. No fancy homes, no prestigious titles. Just ordinary guys on the job, getting things done.
Out there in that field, they were waiting, but they didn’t really know what they were waiting for. Maybe they were thinking of a hot breakfast once the sun peaked over the horizon. Maybe they were looking forward to a few hours away from those smelly sheep.
For the shepherds, waiting and watching was just part of life. It was the job. They watched the fields for signs of danger and waited for the sunrise. Tomorrow would be the same as today, no different than yesterday. The sheep would still need tending, and the shepherds would find themselves waiting and watching once more.
They were ordinary men focused on the ordinary things of life. I’m sure they had their dreams, their yearnings for something more, but they didn’t expect anything to ever be different. They may have been waiting, but they were short on hope. There was no reason to think there would ever be anything more.
Yet on that rugged hillside in the middle of a dark chilly night, a brilliant light changed the ordinary into the extraordinary. In the blink of an eye, their world changed. Their darkness was expelled by the light of an angelic messenger, their quiet dispelled by the harmonies of a heavenly chorus. These men who hadn’t even known they were waiting were waiting no more.
Hope had arrived, and with it, came joy and peace. Today was now different than yesterday, and tomorrow offered something new, something good, something precious.
Those ordinary shepherds would soon know that Love had come. The wait was over. Life would never be the same again. Love had come, come to lowly shepherds, and with it came joy, and peace, and real hope.
Friends, the wait is over. Love has come. The Lord is come. Let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room. May our lives be forever changed from ordinary to extraordinary because Christ the Savior is born!
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But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
Luke 2:10-11 – NIV
PRAYER
O Lord Jesus, we bid You welcome. Thank You for your gift of extraordinary love that fills our ordinary lives with tremendous joy and precious peace. Lord, help us be instruments of Your peace. Help us share Your amazing love with a world that yearns for hope, the real hope that comes from knowing You.
Faith Beyond Sight 