Sundays at 10:30am

 

Menu

Advent Devotional - December 19, 2016

Devotional Web Banner-01

“Go tell it on the mountain / Over the hills and everywhere / Go tell it on the mountain / Jesus Christ is born”

-Go Tell it on the Mountain

This song is one that we can tend to sing rather casually, but in looking at the Scripture behind the lyrics, we can see that the shepherds’ reaction to the news of Christ’s birth is anything but casual:

“When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.’ And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them... And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” (Luke 2:15-18, 20)

Can you feel the shepherds’ eagerness to see Christ and to tell others about him? Imagine yourself in their place and let the hope of this moment wash over you. In the coming of this baby, there is the promise of the longed-for Messiah, joy for all people, and peace and good will among men! No wonder they couldn’t contain themselves! These guys did not care how others would perceive them as they came running through Bethlehem, declaring what these angels had told them... they were compelled to share what they had witnessed. And their faithfulness to declare this good news resulted in others being filled with awe and wonder.

We see in their reaction, and in the lyrics to this song, a picture of what our response to the good news of Christ should be: to praise God and proclaim what we have seen and heard. The angel’s announcement is one not only of good news for Israel, but of “great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10)—that means our neighbors, co-workers, and every person we meet. Do we allow the hope of Christ’s birth to fill us up so that it overflows into our conversation with others? Do we feel the same haste as these shepherds to share this Good News? Do we have an attitude of glorifying and praising God for what we have witnessed Him do throughout Scripture and in our own lives? Spend some time dwelling on this hope-filled announcement and ask for the grace, opportunity, and boldness to tell this Good News everywhere we go: “Jesus Christ is born!