Luke 2:8-11 read: And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 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.
I am amazed by the irritability and frustration that I see during the Christmas season... people running around trying to find that perfect gift, or throwing an elbow at a black Friday sale to get the last of the latest toy. Where's the joy of the season? It seems to be stretched thin over the raw nerves of flustered shoppers... barely noticable through the strained chords of Happy Christmas. It seems that we've misplaced it.
We have cause for GREAT JOY! A savior, albeit, he was born in a barn, and his first visitors were shepherds. But in those humble beginnings, the shepherds, Mary and Joseph got to look upon the very face of God! Great Joy people!!! Christmas should bring us great joy (and I'm not talking "Don't worry be happy" kind of stuff).
As you've probably pieced together, the candle of Joy is lit today. Hannah W Smith wrote about an encounter with a non Christian in her book The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life where he said to her: "You Christians seem to have a religion that makes you miserable. You are like a person with a headache. He does not want to get rid of his head, but it hurts him to keep it. You cannot expect outsiders to seek very earnestly for anything so uncomfortable."
Have Joy and show it this holiday season!
Photo credit: "Adventkranz" by Benjamin Nussbaum, used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license
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