40 Days of Praise - Day 33
Day 33
“And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”
Luke 2:6–7
“O holy night,” we sing, and rightly so. That the Holy One of God, the Only Son of the Father, was born of the virgin Mary that night makes it a once-in-eternity event, an occurrence that will never be repeated.
It would have been appropriate if the entire number of angelic beings had lifted their voice to notify the whole earth that the Son of God was coming to live among us that night. But our Lord had emptied himself of His glory and humbled Himself to become human. The number of angels that did appear was limited, but still more than enough to leave unsuspecting shepherds in wide-mouthed astonishment at their announcement.
The words were fit for the most exalted herald: "for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ, the Lord." The announcement is the kind that’s proclaimed in the courts of kings, not the fields of shepherds.
It is the normalness of today’s verses that stand out. "The time came for her to give birth." That happens with every full-term pregnancy. They wrapped him and swaddling cloths, blankets, like every other baby. They layed him in a manger because there was no room in the inn. Again, it was not unusual when the crowds came to Jerusalem and then overflowed into Bethlehem and Bethany and others surrounding towns, that all of the available beds in people’s homes were filled. There were no motels, just shared rooms. When they were full, some slept under the stars, others would find space in a cave that was being used as a stable or the ground floor of a house where the animals were normally kept. It wasn’t an insult. It was life, normal every day life.
God does some of His most amazing miracles in normal every day life. A couple has a baby, and that wakes them up to their distance from the Lord; they return to church and to the Lord. You invite a friend to church or to listen to a livestream of your church and the person becomes a Christian. When you hear a message on the radio, when you are handed a gospel pamphlet or tract, and you take time to read it; when a friend shares the gospel with you, when you get invited to church, these are all every day normal things. But somehow, in the midst of these normal conversations and interactions and invitations, we got saved. God created new life in us when we repented of our sin and believed on Jesus. No flash of light, no angels singing in the sky. When we pray in God hears and answers, and it is clear that the answer was in motion before we prayed, that’s normal every day life. When the opportunity comes for us to share Jesus with a dear friend, a relative, we love, coworker, we respect, and they hear and believe the message, that’s normal every day life.
Prayers, conversations, invitations, normal everyday things, can lead to salvation, sanctification and transformation.
Because our Lord is at work in normal, everyday life.
Do you see Him?
Charles M. Butler
“And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”
Luke 2:6–7
“O holy night,” we sing, and rightly so. That the Holy One of God, the Only Son of the Father, was born of the virgin Mary that night makes it a once-in-eternity event, an occurrence that will never be repeated.
It would have been appropriate if the entire number of angelic beings had lifted their voice to notify the whole earth that the Son of God was coming to live among us that night. But our Lord had emptied himself of His glory and humbled Himself to become human. The number of angels that did appear was limited, but still more than enough to leave unsuspecting shepherds in wide-mouthed astonishment at their announcement.
The words were fit for the most exalted herald: "for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ, the Lord." The announcement is the kind that’s proclaimed in the courts of kings, not the fields of shepherds.
It is the normalness of today’s verses that stand out. "The time came for her to give birth." That happens with every full-term pregnancy. They wrapped him and swaddling cloths, blankets, like every other baby. They layed him in a manger because there was no room in the inn. Again, it was not unusual when the crowds came to Jerusalem and then overflowed into Bethlehem and Bethany and others surrounding towns, that all of the available beds in people’s homes were filled. There were no motels, just shared rooms. When they were full, some slept under the stars, others would find space in a cave that was being used as a stable or the ground floor of a house where the animals were normally kept. It wasn’t an insult. It was life, normal every day life.
God does some of His most amazing miracles in normal every day life. A couple has a baby, and that wakes them up to their distance from the Lord; they return to church and to the Lord. You invite a friend to church or to listen to a livestream of your church and the person becomes a Christian. When you hear a message on the radio, when you are handed a gospel pamphlet or tract, and you take time to read it; when a friend shares the gospel with you, when you get invited to church, these are all every day normal things. But somehow, in the midst of these normal conversations and interactions and invitations, we got saved. God created new life in us when we repented of our sin and believed on Jesus. No flash of light, no angels singing in the sky. When we pray in God hears and answers, and it is clear that the answer was in motion before we prayed, that’s normal every day life. When the opportunity comes for us to share Jesus with a dear friend, a relative, we love, coworker, we respect, and they hear and believe the message, that’s normal every day life.
Prayers, conversations, invitations, normal everyday things, can lead to salvation, sanctification and transformation.
Because our Lord is at work in normal, everyday life.
Do you see Him?
Charles M. Butler
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