The Great Gift

A common criticism I have heard about telling others about Jesus, or sharing one’s faith, is that it seems too contrived.  The feeling is that the Spirit should lead a person and so they wait for the Spirit to tap them on the shoulder and scream into their ear before they take the bold step of inviting others to trust in Jesus.  You know the result, they never hear the scream and those around them never get the invite.

The incredible aspect of the Christmas account given in Luke 2 is that God modeled for us the important value of intentionally reaching out to invite others into a relationship with Him. God went out of His way to invite common, untaught shepherds to His great event. They were some of the first to be entrusted with the universal good news of Jesus’ birth. These shepherds heard the angelic messengers tell them, ‘for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord’ (Luke 2:11). Why did God do this? The answer is given in this verse as the shepherds were told that the Savior’s birth is ‘for you.’

Let us remember in this season that the Savior’s birth is for needy humanity and that there are still many who need to hear of God’s gift of a Savior who was sent for each of us. We who received this same message and have happily believed it now need to pass it on. We also see this in Luke’s account as we note that after these shepherds came and saw the baby they ‘went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them’ (Luke 2:20). They received and then shared it with others.

I pray that this Christmas Season we would each take the time to remember how great a gift we received from the Lord and then seek to pass it on.