Matthew 9:16-17
Resolutions? Change? What is there about a new year that makes us think that something is changing? What makes us think that we will change? We make promises to ourselves that we are going to alter our behavior believing that something magically is different this time. We long for change of significance. Will the change actually take place?
Actually when we go from December 31 into January 1 of the next year we are just going from one minute to the next, one hour to the next, one day to the next. What is changing? Yes, we hang a new calendar on the wall but what has changed? We write a different year on our checks and appointment books but what really has changed?
For real change to take place in your heart and life you need to forget about the new year, the clock and the calendar. Instead realize that change of significance can take place in your life only when you determine to submit completely to God. He will guide you through the process of change that is important to your present and future. Change of significance can take place only as you determine to obey God as He reveals His will and His way through His Word.
So, if you want change of significance to take place in your life stop determining what you want to happen. Stop looking for a formula or a magical time when your desired change will effortlessly come to pass. Rather, look to Jesus and prostrate your will before Him in humble submission seeking His desire for your life.
Dr. Gayle Woods
Luke 2:8-20
Edershiem and Barclay both espouse the theory that the shepherds which visited at Jesus’ birth watched over the sacrificial sheep destined for the Temple and that these were special herders. An unblemished lamb was offered as a sacrifice to God morning and evening in the Temple. To see that the supply of perfect offerings was always available the Temple authorities had their own private sheep flocks; and we know that these flocks were pastured near Bethlehem.
Maybe that’s why God chose these men to hear the first announcement of the Savior’s birth. Their sacrificial lambs would symbolize the coming Lamb of God.
Even if they were the Temple shepherds, they were still looked down on by the mainstream of the culture. It was impossible for them to keep all the meticulous laws, for their sheep required that they perform tasks the orthodox viewed as unclean.
The elite of the religious people scorned them, but God announced His Son to them. In the blackness of night, a divine glory and splendor came to these shepherds…the announcement of glad tidings of joy to all the world.
In His action, God provided for man’s release from sin. He provided light to dispel the shadows of darkness. He provided love that would strike a deathblow to fear. Jesus, born in Bethlehem, was God’s provision for the “insignificant” of humanity.
After hearing the angel’s announcement, these insignificant outcasts started on the road to find Jesus. We also should take the road, not to Christmas, but to Bethlehem. With the shepherds, we may pay homage and honor to our Savior and King who lifts us from insignificance to significance. That’s why He came to earth. His birth made your spiritual birth possible. That is the most significant event of your life.
Dr. Gayle Woods
