Christmas Advent 2012 Day 10

December 11, 2012 It was the night before my sixtieth birthday. The evening had been enjoyable as we had spent the evening with family. I was tired so I went to bed earlier than usual, since I am a night owl by nature. I was somewhere between awake and unconscious sleep when it happened. The whole world came crashing in. It sounded like a plane had gotten off course and crashed into the house. I must have come three feet straight in the air. My heart was in my throat; I don’t think it was beating. It was then I heard the laughter of my wife and daughter. They had waited until I was in a peaceful sleep before they had busted into the room banging pots and pans and anything else to make noise as a way of saying happy birthday. I still wonder why my wife asked before I went to bed if my life insurance was paid up. Imagine what it must have been like for the shepherds relaxing around the camp fire on that star-filled night in the pastures between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The sheep had been gathered into the sheepfold, examined for thorn cuts, salved with ointment and bedded down for the night. The only sounds would be the quiet sounds of the sheep, the conversation of the shepherd and the night sounds. The sky and every space around the shepherds is filled the blinding light of the radiance of the messenger sent from God. So bright and so sudden does this happen that the shepherds are so afraid it physically hurts. The messenger angel had been dispatched to tell first, those of the lowliest profession; those who probably would never enter the temple to worship; those who possibly tended the sheep for atonement sacrifice that the Savior had been born. As we re-read the story of the shepherds in Luke 2:8-20, remember that there are no insignificant individuals in God’s creation. Every person is invited to come and worship the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and to make him Lord of life. It’s something to think about.