Christmas Thoughts

Here's some stuff that I've been pondering over the course of the Christmas season:

• The shepherds are the first to hear about the Savior's birth. For some reason, God chooses the shepherds (ranked low in societal status) to reveal Himself to and then uses them to spread the Good News. God has always had a heart for the humble and He uses them in mighty ways.
• Something I've never thought about...this was breaking news for everyone in the world at the time of His birth. For countless years people have been waiting on this King they've heard prophecies about and He was finally there! Oh, what a feeling it must have been. On Christmas Eve, no one knew it was Christmas Eve! It was just a another seemingly ordinary night. It's cool to think about what they must have felt like to hear this news. We need to tap into the joy that they had when they realized the gravity of Jesus' birth.
• It's so easy to get so caught up in stuff around Christmas. There's so much to do...most of which is unnecessary and self-imposed. It's so easy to get caught up in self and to forget about our calling to love others as Christ has loved us. It's easy to worship stuff - not necessarily physically bowing down to an ipod, a hunting rifle, or new clothes, but figuratively spending more time, resources, thoughts, and energy on them instead of God-honoring things.
• I read a quote the other day that struck me. It was about us feeling good about how much we give. The quote was, "God not only looks at how much we give, but how much we keep." I thought it was pretty simple, yet profound. Changed my perspective on giving.
• The sense of tradition can callous one to some really beautiful things. For instance, many of the traditional Christmas songs are incredible. I've never really focused on what some of them say. I sang them often, yet my singing was merely a mindless repetition of a tradition and not a song of praise to my Savior. Some of my personal favorites are "Silent Night","O Come, O Come Emmanuel", and "Joy To The World.

I've been thinking about more, and I'll address them in later posts probably. This is just some big stuff I've been thinking about. I pray that you all are having a merry Christmas. May you take a moment and in solitude contemplate what the Savior's birth actually means for the world and especially to you as a Believer. I am so thankful to be finding myself wanting to grasp the gravity of Christmas and what the coming of Jesus means. I pray it will be the same for you.
Grace and Peace. λύτρον