Attitude 1

Luke 2:10-12

Many years ago I went to the annual church picnic our previous church used to hold. I don’t remember why I decided to go that year; I think it was out of a sense of obligation to family. I attended but expected to have a pretty boring time – I mean, how can you have any fun with church people?

I was very wrong. I had a fantastic afternoon and evening, hours of games and swimming and great food. I recall not wanting it to end, leaving reluctantly as it got dark.

Sometimes life surprises you with nice things. You may expect one thing and then get something totally different. Such is the case with the Christmas story.

Luke’s account of the miraculous gift of Jesus focuses on the shepherds who were tending their flocks near Bethlehem. While they were out in their fields one night an angel appeared to them. What hope does the angel bring? What has happened? What should the shepherds look for?

God has at last sent the Messiah, a Savior, an expression of God’s love that is meant o be received by the entire world. We can imagine the incredible joy the shepherds must have felt when they heard the news. And the angel then told them how to find this incredible gift. They were to go to Bethlehem and search for this new Messiah.

They may have expected to be told a name. They may have expected to have been told about some great and powerful leader who lived in the nearby town. But instead they are told to search for a baby. And the baby they should search for was going to be a poor child, one wrapped in the traditional swaddling cloths of the common folk and not the child of a wealthy or royal family.

The baby would not be found in a great house surrounded by the comforts of a life of plenty. Instead, the baby would be found in a feeding trough for animals.

As much as this news may have confused and confounded these shepherds, they had to be faithful and go seek out the child. They had to believe that this child born in low estate was indeed the amazing gift God had promised.

We too may have expectations for Christmas. We may expect that the season will be filled with stress and worry. We may expect the holiday to be a repeat of what we have been through before. Or our expectations may be for wonderful presents, things we would love to have in our life.

Whatever our expectations, we must approach the holiday with a heart and mind open to what God might have in store for us. If we can trust in the Lord we might be surprised at the wonderful joys we will find this holiday.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What must you do to be more open to the unexpected joys of Christmas?