Advent Calendar - DAY 18

The GO, RUN & TELL of the Christmas Story

 

Wednesday, the fourth week of Advent

Today’s Readings:  Proverbs 23:18, Jeremiah 29:11, Luke 2:1-38,

 

I can’t help but be encouraged and get excited every time I read the Christmas Story as told in the first two chapters of the book of Luke.  Piper’s family had the annual tradition where her Dad read the Biblical story of the birth of Jesus before the opening of the family’s Christmas gifts.  For her Dad, it wasn’t the real thing unless he read it from the King James Version.  I believe that he enjoyed the pageantry and the memories it held for him within the format of the old Elizabethan English rendering.

Through the ensuing years of my Christian walk, as I began to read from and collect other English translations, I started to gain a deeper understandings of that simple story that lays the foundations for the New Testament and the building blocks of our Christian faith.  Instead of concentrating on the prose and poetic flow of the older translation, I found myself focusing in on the message of PEACE and HOPE that was brought forth with the incarnation of Jesus Christ into our world.

Today, I can’t help but want to jump for joy as I see and feel the excitement of the Shepherds as they began to grasp the depth of the message that the angels were telling them on that quiet night in the fields near Bethlehem.  The Passion Translation tells us that the angels that filled the skies sang praises unto the Lord and declared, “Glory to God in the highest realms of heaven! For there is peace and a good hope given to the sons of men.” (Luke 2:14)  Suddenly life had a whole new purpose and goal for these lowly shepherds.  God had given them a vision of HOPE that presented a potential of a different present and future for them and their families.

These men KNEW that they had received a special revelation WORD from the Lord that night.  While the King James version tells us that they said to each other following the angels return to the heavens, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass,” the modern translations bring out the true meaning of the word translated “thing” as actually being the Greek word “rhema” which is defined as a unique and special WORD of significant revelation. (as compared to the “logos” of God which is His Word in general.)

In other words, God had a very special message for the angels to deliver that night!  The excitement and anticipation was overflowing within those shepherds as they breathlessly proclaimed, “Let’s go! Let’s hurry and find this Word that is born in Bethlehem and see for ourselves what the Lord has revealed to us” and then they literally, “ran into the village and found their way to Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in a feeding trough.” (The Passion Translation - Luke 2:14-16) 

The Christmas Story is so much more than just a story of a special little baby being born in a tiny hamlet in Israel.  It is a life changing event that brought an opportunity for PEACE for our weary souls and HOPE that changes our today, our tomorrow and our eternity.

I personally do not believe that the birth of Jesus and the WORD that the shepherds told everyone they saw that night… and most likely for the rest of their lives (as I find it difficult to believe that those men could EVER forget what they HEARD and SAW in the skies above them that night) was as great a surprise as many of us have been led to believe.  Luke 2:18 tells us that all the people who heard their story were “astonished” or “amazed” or “marveled” at what they said. (The Passion Translation, God’s Word ©, EMTV)  I would imagine that it changed their very lives.

When one studies the writings of the Old Testament, they’ll clearly see that the coming of a Savior and the particular events of that night had been prophesized for hundreds of years.  I’m pretty sure that Simeon and Anna (See: Luke 2:25-38) weren’t the only ones who understood what was going on!  The change that people had been sensing for years was finally present in their midst… and it was a change that would affect the world for thousands of years to come… and continues to do so today!

I’m not sure how you see the story of Christmas.  But for me… I want to experience it as did the shepherds that the angels appeared to on the quiet night.  I want to get up and “GO!” and continue to find this WORD that the Father God is speaking to us today!  And I want to “RUN!” into His presence on a daily basis and commune with Him.

Then when I am full to overflowing with the revelation of the lovingkindness and goodness and faithfulness of the Lord and His message of PEACE and HOPE, I’ll share it with everyone I come into contact with!  That’s the GIFT that Jesus would want us to share with everyone in our sphere of influence.  That’s how I want to celebrate Christmas and the ending of 2020 throughout this next week or so… How about you?

You might even consider making a list of potential people with whom you are acquainted with, who might profit from knowing what you know… and then give ‘em a call!