Sharing the JOY of the Season

I love Christmas time at our church.  The music is always so touching and beautiful, the church is beautifully decorated, my heart flutters when the lights dim and the advent candles are lit, and the sermons are always so insightful.

This week's sermon was all about the shepherds who were told by God that the Savior had been born in Bethlehem.  You can listen to the whole sermon here, but I wanted to share a few of my thoughts after marinating on the sermon for a few days.

The shepherds werenot the "upper crust" of their society.  They wore tattered clothes, had a reputation of being thieves and partiers, and were pretty much the lowest on the totem pole.  But, God chose to tell them of Christ's birth.  He chose the broken people to spread the good news of Christ's birth.  After they were told the news, they decided they wanted to go to Bethlehem to see this thing for themselves.  Once they got to Bethlehem and realized that what God had told them was true, they began spreading the news like wild fire.  They told everyone they came in contact with that the Savior had been born to a virgin.  They shared the news with JOY!

Often times, we as Christians are nervous or apprehensive to share our faith with others.  Whether it be out of embarrassment, fear of rejection, or lack of answers to hard questions, we sometimes think it is just better to live our lives and hope people see a difference rather than to shout it from the mountain that we love Jesus and we are going to have eternal lives in heaven because of the gift Christ gave us.

One of our pastors gave us a great analogy to put this into perspective; if we were to find a cure for cancer today, we would tell as many people as we could and we would become VERY rich.  So, why is it that Christ has given us a cure for death and we are hesitant to share the steps to be cured?

As I've pondered this thought this week, I have felt very convicted.  Why can't I be more like the shepherds?  I mean, they had a lot to prove, given their reputation, but they shared anyway.  They weren't afraid of what others might think because they wanted to share the joy with everyone.  I can only hope that I can somehow make an effort to share the joy of the season as much as possible.  Because really, who wouldn't want the ultimate Christmas gift??


"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full" -- John 15:11