Every year around Christmas, we read the same pieces of the Bible. We read from the prophets who spoke about Jesus, we read about the manger, we read about Mary and Joseph, and we read about the angels who appeared to the Shepherds.
A mentor pastor taught me something really good about studying texts like these. I'll share it with you. You can play the "How would I have written this?" game. How would you have written about the angels who appeared? To whom would they have appeared? Where would they have appeared? Probably not to shepherds in the middle of nowhere.
So then, in God's story, the most perfectly told story, why did he appear to shepherds? These hardened tough men at the lowest rung of society? These were men who were stooped around the fire, wishing and hoping for the world. But God didn't give them the world. He have them something greater. He gave them the creator of the world. Jesus.
What are you hoping for this Christmas? Look no further. God has given a gift that is greater than we could have hoped!
