Day 6: The Gift That Lasts Forever

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:8-11

When we think of the Christmas story, we think of the baby in a manger. We think and repeat how they could not find any room to stay in and they were forced to have this child with the animals. We think about how the wisemen came and gave some of the most precious gifts to the baby and worshipped Christ as an infant. But what we don’t think about, often, is the shepherds. The angels came to tell the shepherds about the the arrival of the promised Messiah. They come to the shepherds, not the kings, not the wealthy, not the powerful, not the scientists, not the whole, but the shepherds. God thought it proper to get the hopes of the shepherds up. He thought it reasonable to treat the shepherds to this information first.

The best gift is the one that can be enjoyed forever, and seeing as nothing lasts forever, our goal should be to find the gift that does. The angel didn’t sweep these shepherds off their feet and bring them to the baby, they didn’t say “we bring you good tidings of great joy, and it is livestock as far as the eye can see.” Though the shepherds may have enjoyed that, the angel tells them “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” In other words “you may not believe this, and you may not concern yourself, but you must know that there is a Saviour, the promised Messiah, who will take away the sins of the world, and you must take a look for yourself, you must just have enough faith to believe in this infant and be saved!”

Oh the tidings was not tangible physically. It was not something these men of the field could hold in their hands and look at. It was a tiding of spiritual matter. It was only held by their belief that God delivers on His promises. The same tiding is still given today. We must be like the angel and say “Christ the LORD was born. He is there for YOU! YOU need the Saviour, you will be dead in your trespasses and sins if you do not look to the child of God. You do not need to visit Him bodily, only spiritually. You must only put your faith in Him right where you are, and He promises to visit you!” Ephesians 1:13 says “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,” What a great gift to be had, and it’s not meant to only be shared and thought of on Christmas, for Christ grew up, He lived a perfect life and died OUR death. Christmas is not about Jesus being born, it’s about salvation for the world. What a joy it is to be able to take any time and spend it on thinking about the Saviour of your life.