Lessons From The Christmas Story

The bible is truly a treasure book full of God’s wisdom for living. Unfortunately, we often don’t seek His wisdom because seeking can be tasking but there really is a lot to find. Just meditating on the birth of Jesus again in this season, my life can never be the same. Does anyone ever graduate from the School of life? The older I get the more I find that there is yet a lot more that I need to know and still don’t know.

Luke 2: 8 “That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angels reassured them. Don’t be afraid! He said. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Saviour – yes, the messiah, the Lord – has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David.”

1.       God announces us to the world at the right time; you don’t need to struggle to put yourself out there. God has His ways of announcing people. It is true that the world teaches us to sell ourselves - branding and marketing (nice words to describe it). Truthfully, without Jesus in one’s life, it is easy to feel the need do these things - like ensuring you put yourself out there so that people see and hear about you, all you have done and/or can do. Fortunately, it is different with God if you let Him. As you live your life pleasing Him, He ensures that He announces you in the exact way and place you need to be known. The thing about God is that He does not even tell you that He is announcing you; He does it quietly so that you only know when you begin to hear people talk about you in a light you never saw yourself. God indeed notices all you do.

Mathew 2: 9 “After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.”

2.       If God elects to lead you, rest assured He will do so to the end. If He goes silent, don’t panic; be still for He has not forgotten you. His silence is sometimes to prove us. That isn’t the time to turn to the flesh; the consequences of doing so may be heavy. God always intends to take us to His predestined end. The wise men started their journey following the star, at some point they saw it no more so they turned to the arm of flesh. They wanted to finish in the flesh, a journey started by the Spirit of God. Interestingly, the star was waiting to continue with them. If only they had been a little patient, they would not have asked the King. Maybe God wanted them to rest from the journey, we would never know but they were in too much of a hurry. 

Mathew 2: 18 “A cry was heard in Ramah – weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.”

3.       The wise men did not know that their turning to the arm of flesh for directions would cost some families their sons. Though they meant no harm, their action cost irreparable damage to some families. The fact that you did not mean to cause harm by your action would not change the consequences. It does not make it okay that people died because the wise men did not intend to have them killed. The sons died and the bible records it as a sad story and communicates the pain caused to the mothers. I don’t think God was pleased about it. Their impatience and/or lack of trust led them to rely on the arm of flesh which caused other people their lives. If only they had waited just a little longer. The fact that they sincerely thought they were lost and needed help did not make the death of the sons less painful.