Have you ever been told some news or information that you just could not keep to yourself? We all seem to need to pass on information to someone else – especially good news. I imagine the shepherds must have felt this urgency when they received the news from the angels that the promised Savior had been born. The people of God had been given the promise hundreds of years before. And now, these shepherds were the first, besides Mary and Joseph, to know that the Promise had come. It is no wonder that they went to see Jesus and then ran to tell the world around them the good news!
It was a dark time in history for the Jewish people when Jesus came as a baby. It appears there were only a few people who were expectantly waiting for that promise to be fulfilled. Most people had forgotten the promise or thought it was to deliver Israel from political bondage rather than spiritual bondage.
And now here we are again in similar dark times, waiting for a promise from God. We too are waiting for the Savior. Only this time He will not come quietly as a helpless baby. Instead, He will come in a way that every eye will see Him. He will come as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
But how many of us are expectantly waiting? While we may never say that we do not believe the promise, we may be living as though we do not believe. If we really believe He is coming, then like the shepherds, that should be news that is too good to keep to ourselves!
A few years ago, I was teaching a club at Christmas time. The lesson was about the angels announcing Jesus’ birth to the shepherds. The room got quiet and I whispered that besides Mary and Joseph,
the shepherds were the only people in the whole world who knew that the promised Savior had come. Then I asked the children what they thought the shepherds would do.
A young boy raised his hand and whispered back, “They are going to steal the baby.”
This Christmas let’s not “steal Jesus” by holding His preciousness only for ourselves. We have twice the Good News to share- His first coming and His second. The promise of His second coming could happen at any time. There are boys and girls, and men and women, waiting to hear of it. Will you be the one to tell?
Wishing you a Good-News-filled Christmas!
-Linda
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