Daily Advent ~ Dec. 19th

Thursday, December 19th

Advent 2013

Old Testament: "...there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulum and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-" Isaiah 9:1

New Testament: "When the angles had left them and gone into heave, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.'" Luke 2:15

Right after the angles leave, the shepherds decide to travel into the town of Bethlehem and see with their own eyes this new King that has been born. Luke's tone in this verse regarding the shepherds is not a tone of doubt- but one of amazement. The shepherds have just witnessed an entire company of angels praising God at the birth of His Son. They are not saying to each other, "Hey, we should go to town to see if this is really true."  No, instead their response is more like, "Wow! That's amazing! Hey, guys, let's go to town and see this amazing event!"

These simple shepherds heard the Good News and responded without questions, worry or fear. Sometimes we make our faith so complicated, we loose the freedom and trust that comes from a life of simple faith. Let's have a childlike faith of the shepherds and respond to our Heavenly Father with joy!