Listening

Today’s reading: Genesis 3-5, Luke 2

What I heard:

Scripture: Luke 2:9, 15-16

⁹Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terribly frightened.

¹⁵When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Come on, let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” ¹⁶They ran to the village…

Observation: The shepherds were in the field, doing their job, when an angel of the Lord came to them and shared some amazing news. After listening, they had to go check it out immediately.

Application: Woah. How exciting and still yet terrifying would that be for an angel to just show up and share God’s message directly! And how fortunate are we that those shepherds went to check it out and then shared the news. What if they had dismissed that news?

God can jump in with an undeniable message for us when he wants to, and when the situation merits it. He wants to communicate with us daily, but that can only happen if we listen. My guess is that he reserves the angel’s appearances for the really big stuff. But he has lots of other important messages, too. And the only way to hear them is by spending time with Him directly.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for making your son’s birth in this world undeniable. Thank you for alerting those shepherds and many others.

Please continue to guide me in spending time in your Word so that I may hear the messages you have for me and share them as you see fit. And please guide all those that read this message today to carve out some of the time you give them to spend time listening to you as well so they may hear you distinctly. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to hear you. Don’t let us give up that gift.

PS… If you would like a bookmark for your Bible with the first quarter Bible in a year reading plan, just send an email with your address using the link above. I’ll pop one in the mail to you.