Saturday 26 Dec 2020

December 26: Luke 2:6-12
 
Key Verse: Luke 2:8
And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
 
Devotion:
Do you know where you were born? Not the town or city, but the hospital and even the ward you were on. I don’t think many of us could break it down to the ward and room, and some of us were born in places which don’t exist anymore – much like the place or Saviour was born; a lowly stable where they had to lay Him down in a manger because they did not have portable carry cots and things like that then!
 
I know hospitals get rebuilt, moved or re-purposed because of the advances in technology and medicine – so a few generations back and things get lost in time. But what does not change over time is the people who have babies (mothers) and less so, the carers who look after soon-to-be mothers. But no matter how much changes, people are still going to be born and people will still die – it's the memories and our souls which live on forever.
 
One thing which is very different here is the first people who came to see the new baby. It was not the friends and family who were called to say the baby had been born, but shepherds who were looking after their flocks nearby. These were the guys who spent their nights out all the time with the animals, who didn’t get paid a lot and who were not recognised as people of society. But God chose them to be the first.
 
This, to me, is the ultimate statement of who Jesus looks out for first of all. It is not the well-off people who shower others with money and possessions, it is not the high priests and church leaders, but the poor and meek whom Jesus reaches out to – those He wants to bless because they have little else to look forward to.
 
Points to Ponder:
Who did you spend Christmas with?
 
Have you tried reaching out to someone you know who needs a little helping hand?