A response to Then Came Jesus by Lara Williams :: Week 1, Day 5

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. (‭Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭8-20‬ NKJV, emphasis mine)

The focus of today’s reading in Then Came Jesus was evangelism.  No, not the type of evangelism that we see on TV or the type that some church leaders plan and organize for or the type that door-to-door missionaries attempt to accomplish; but authentic, spur-of-the-moment “let me tell you the good news” evangelism.  The type of evangelism that Ms. Williams refers to as “the overflow” of a heart of worship (p. 21).

Think about the last time you got good news and you had to tell the very next person you saw.  Maybe a family memeber had a baby or you got a new job or you bought a new house.  It was exciting, right? And you had to share it with everyone. That same feeling was very likely what the shepherds were experiencing, except times ten.

The shepherds were evangelizing and they don’t even know it.  They had seen their Saviors face and because of the pure joy that comes with the good news they made it widely know (v17).  Think about when you encountered Christ for the first time, when you accepted His gift of Salvation?  Weren’t you just bursting with joy?  Didn’t you want to share the good news with everyone? I did.

As I studied the birth of Jesus Christ today it began to stir something up inside me.  It is a familiar sensation, the one I experienced not long ago when I accepted Christ as my Savior.  My prayer today is that the sensation does not fade.  That the Holy Spirit stirs and stirs inside me until He is sloshing about and overflowing into all areas of my life.

Lord, I thank You that You are stirring Yourself up within me.  Please, Lord, fill me up and then spill out.  May Your goodness flow out of my heart into the lives of those around me.  May my husband, my children, my friends, my acquaintances, and even strangers feel the sensation of Your presences when they are with me.  God use me. Evangelize through me. Reach the lost through me.  Make the good news widely known through me.  God I am Yours.  May You and You alone be glorified.  In Your name I pray, amen.

Are you reading Then Came Jesus or another advent study?  What is God revealing to you?  Please let me know by leaving a comment.  You can also check out Lara Williams’ weekly wrap-up over on her blog at ToOverflowing.com.