When's the last time you were thoroughly stupefied and completely wide-eyed by an event? I recall the Christmas of 1977 when my father gave me a diamond necklace to match the diamond on my wedding ring. When I opened it, I was stunned beyond belief. Today it's my favorite piece of jewelry.
Astonishment! It's a delightful emotion, one that should captivate every believer's heart, especially at Christmas. Yet I'm afraid the busyness of shopping, overcrowded schedules and lack of finances have somehow buried the joy of what should otherwise thoroughly flabbergast us beyond measure! Just like Jewish people today faithfully celebrate the Passover, have we as Gentiles grown sluggish in celebrating the most flamboyant act of God ever: His entrance into the atmosphere of planet earth?
Stop a moment right now! Consider this: Jesus Christ left His Throne to enter His earthly birth scene: a manger (more literally, a feeding trough for animals) being fully aware that He was about to wear a diaper, while the innkeeper found himself scurrying about having no idea that He just put God out in the cold.
Friends, astonishment surrounds the Christmas story. The theme of amazement at the proclamation of the Messiah runs throughout the book of Luke. As daughters of the King, we cannot let ourselves be anything less than filled with boggled wonderment at the miracle of Jesus and His desire to draw near to His people.
I love it! Just imagine the scene at the shepherd's field: lowly sheep handlers performing their work of tending the lambs, when the announcement of "THE LAMB" descended into their midst. Was the event something like a heavenly "Air Force One" mysteriously appearing in the clouds, unloading the precious cargo of Gabriel and a multitude of heavenly hosts? Astonished? Indeed, the shepherds were stunned in sheer fright!
And what was the conversation like when the shepherds emerged at the manger scene. During the intimate moment when Mary was nursing the God of the Universe, did she say to these sheep tenders in bewilderment: "Excuse me? Who are you?"
"We were on the hillside watching our flock when suddenly the glory of the Lord lit up our field scaring our sheep half to death." Imagine how it brought confirmation to Mary and Joseph that God's announcement of the Messiah's coming had already been proclaimed to the outside world and that the baby they coddled was indeed the Son of God!
And how 'bout Caesar? While he had declared that all citizens in the empire register for taxation, did it ever connect with him that his plan was ordained by God simply to get Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem in order to fulfill prophecy?
Friends, this season let your mind run wild as you contemplate the Oscar winning chapter of the Bible: Luke 2. Read it again and again and again. Something stupendous will appear when you observe between the lines. Expect to be dazed with imagination, and let your soul be lost in wonder, jolted, dumbfounded in pure delight!
Like a Christmas Eve child, fancy yourself in the miracle of Jesus coming to save the world, and let the Christ of Christmas astonish you all over again!
Merry Christmas, beloved friends. I count it pure joy to share our journeys to the Throne together!
Lovin' you,
Pam
