The End of Christmas

Well, Christmas and holidays are past. What now? Take a look at Luke 2:20
The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

Well, back to the grind, right? Wrong.  Back, right. But they had been changed. They had seen and heard things that had been told them. They were not just spectators. (See Hebrews 12:1) They were the participants, the witnesses.

When we encounter the Living God, it fills us with glory and it “oozes” out. Praise God. It changes our outlook and our lives. These shepherds were never the same again. I am willing to bet on that.

And the last phrase is life changing. “...just as it had been told them.” This is how we keep our excitement. No, not hearing from angels every day. But hearing from God every day. If these guys could not read, I bet they found someone who could and they had them read to them as often as they could.

They had personal experience in hearing from heaven. And they knew where to find those messages. Recall Hebrews 1:1
  God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways.

We have not had angel choirs serenade us, or had a personal message from on high, but we have more than they had. They heard from the fathers and prophets. But look at verse 2: “in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” And we have His message to us right in our hands.

Think of that. The shepherds heard from angels. But we have a personal message from The Son. I’ll take it. As we return to the normal stream of events, we are confident that we have heard from on high. And we, like the shepherds, can look back at our “messages” and see that they have been “just as had been told them.” The New Year holds nothing that can upset us.

How will that change your outlook? It should drive us to renew the message every day. Read it. As the athletic company says, “Just do it.”

 The “end” does not mean the finish, it means the result. Have a great New Year...in the Word.