Perhaps my other favorite characters in this ongoing look at the Christmas saga are the stinky outcasts of society. I've always had a heart for the rejected and the different. Possibly because I can so totally relate to them. And I love how God often chooses them (it gives me hope that He'll choose me to use one day for some beautiful purpose of His own!).
Christmas morning was no different. The shepherds were up in the hills, watching the sheep. The night was cold, the sky a pitch backdrop to the stunning light of the stars that were different this year for some reason. The smell of the sheep and the smell of the men intermingled; a shepherd often walks among his flock and picks up their distinct odor.
They talked of the lambs they would send to town to be sold by the Temple for sacrifices; only the best of the best would do. Perhaps some of the younger men, not so set in their ways, scoffed at the irony of their job. After all, they were tasked with finding the best lambs and protecting them from injury or attack so they would be worthy to lay down on the altar before Jehovah. And yet, the men themselves were considered unclean and unable to participate in so holy an event. The old men just advised them to accept the laws instituted by the religious leaders of the day; their passions had long since retired in the face of continual rejection. The young men, though, they had dreams and visions of grandeur; after al, they reasoned, King David started out as a lowly shepherd, did he not? Why can't God use us for some great thing, as though we were like him?
The old men laughed at the idealism of youth; their dreams now buried, they had little patience for those who thought beyond the boundaries of acceptable. After all, it was just the way things were and longing for more would just make you discontented with your lot in life. Wisdom says if that is how we worship God and that is how it is done in your time, don't be rebellious and expect more. The older shepherds tried to impart their knowledge.
To keep the peace, one of the shepherds begins to sing a psalm of the great David who walked those same hills. It was a psalm of expectation.
Suddenly, the pitch sky was not just dotted with beacons of light; it was totally sliced open to allow the greatest light they had ever seen illuminate the mountainside. A host of angels filled the sky and gave them the news that the Perfect Lamb had come. Suddenly, the dried up dreams of the old men were resuscitated and the longing in the hearts of the young was fulfilled. They rushed to see this precious Gift in the lowliest of places - a barn! - and yet they knew that even the grandeur of the Temple could not hold the same honor and richness of that place.
Which one are you?
Are you the older shepherd, who feels rejected once too many and has given up hope? Or are you the younger one, full of passion and yet afraid to step out of the box? Are you the one burgeoning with hopes and glimpses of something different, something radical and yet just can't seem to grasp it? Or perhaps you are that one given to praising when logic and dreams collide; trusting God that He loves you and will make a way. Take a look at Scripture and don't be afraid; God is coming and He is coming for you no matter anyone else thinks about you or has declared over you. You are His!
Linked up with Women Living Well
Christmas morning was no different. The shepherds were up in the hills, watching the sheep. The night was cold, the sky a pitch backdrop to the stunning light of the stars that were different this year for some reason. The smell of the sheep and the smell of the men intermingled; a shepherd often walks among his flock and picks up their distinct odor.
They talked of the lambs they would send to town to be sold by the Temple for sacrifices; only the best of the best would do. Perhaps some of the younger men, not so set in their ways, scoffed at the irony of their job. After all, they were tasked with finding the best lambs and protecting them from injury or attack so they would be worthy to lay down on the altar before Jehovah. And yet, the men themselves were considered unclean and unable to participate in so holy an event. The old men just advised them to accept the laws instituted by the religious leaders of the day; their passions had long since retired in the face of continual rejection. The young men, though, they had dreams and visions of grandeur; after al, they reasoned, King David started out as a lowly shepherd, did he not? Why can't God use us for some great thing, as though we were like him?
The old men laughed at the idealism of youth; their dreams now buried, they had little patience for those who thought beyond the boundaries of acceptable. After all, it was just the way things were and longing for more would just make you discontented with your lot in life. Wisdom says if that is how we worship God and that is how it is done in your time, don't be rebellious and expect more. The older shepherds tried to impart their knowledge.
To keep the peace, one of the shepherds begins to sing a psalm of the great David who walked those same hills. It was a psalm of expectation.
Suddenly, the pitch sky was not just dotted with beacons of light; it was totally sliced open to allow the greatest light they had ever seen illuminate the mountainside. A host of angels filled the sky and gave them the news that the Perfect Lamb had come. Suddenly, the dried up dreams of the old men were resuscitated and the longing in the hearts of the young was fulfilled. They rushed to see this precious Gift in the lowliest of places - a barn! - and yet they knew that even the grandeur of the Temple could not hold the same honor and richness of that place.
Which one are you?
Are you the older shepherd, who feels rejected once too many and has given up hope? Or are you the younger one, full of passion and yet afraid to step out of the box? Are you the one burgeoning with hopes and glimpses of something different, something radical and yet just can't seem to grasp it? Or perhaps you are that one given to praising when logic and dreams collide; trusting God that He loves you and will make a way. Take a look at Scripture and don't be afraid; God is coming and He is coming for you no matter anyone else thinks about you or has declared over you. You are His!
25 Days of Christmas Series:
25 Days of Christmas: Home for the Holidays @ Graceful Abandon
25 Days of Easy Christmas Crafts for Toddlers & Preschoolers @ Sidetracked Sarah
25 Days of Christmas Traditions @ Sharing the Journey
25 Days of Simple Christmas @ Simply Living for Him
Linked up with Women Living Well
No comments:
Post a Comment
Share what YOU think -- I love your comments!