Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Luke 2:11 ... a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
TO YOU
Christmas is for children! Who is better at showing excitement, at looking forward to the day with such longing that it seems to take forever to arrive? And why does it take so long for children, while for adults it threatens year after year to catch them unprepared?
Is it perhaps because the children do not really do as much in preparation? They learn their pieces, but they're learning all year long. That's their job. They wrap presents, but their list is not as long as that of their parents. And they look forward to treats that they have not prepared.
And what did the shepherds do to bring about the first Christmas, or even prepare for it? They had been learning all their lives about the promised Messiah, Christ the LORD. But that night overtook them in a heart-beat! They had done nothing to bring it about, but "when the time had fully come, God sent his son ..." (Galatians 4:4).
Who knows how far away from town they were when it happened, and yet the angel said, "a Savior has been born to you!" The shepherds were like children coming to the party that they did not plan or create -- rejoicing!
We were further away than the shepherds, and yet "to us a child is born, to us a son is given" (Isaiah 9:6)! Truly, it is not we who make Christmas special. We are like children. But then, Christmas is for children, enjoying the work of their Father and their God!
Oh then rejoice that through His Son God is with sinners now at one;
Made like yourselves of flesh and blood, your brother is th' eternal God.
