If there is one thing I love during the Christmas season, it is certainly the opportunity I get to spread joy. I arguably have the best job in the world: leading music during concerts and church services that speaks of the reason why we celebrate as Christian believers. It is my own way of proclaiming the message that was given to the shepherds more than two thousand years ago.
In Luke two, a multitude of angels appears to shepherds out in the fields and announces that Christ has been born in Bethlehem. Even though they are terrified and no doubt taken by surprise, the shepherds immediately decide to go to Bethlehem to see what has come to pass.
There was no delay. They didn’t ask any questions. They simply hurried off to find the baby in the manger so they might worship Him. There is something about the urgency and the unlikely circumstances of that first Christmas that strike me almost every year. To think— God chose to deliver the news of His Son’s birth to the shepherds first and foremost! They had the honor of partaking in the marvel that was the birth of the Messiah! How could they do anything else but go and tell the world of the joy they had found?
There is something about this concept of “go and tell” that has struck me recently. It reminds me of the song “Go Tell it on the Mountain.” It creates the mental image of climbing a mountain and shouting at the top of your voice, “Hear this, world below! Jesus Christ is born! Do you hear me?!”
A few weeks ago, I watched the live broadcast of “The Sound of Music,” and as the characters of Maria and the Reverend Mother talked, I clued in to a particular set of lines. They were talking about singing out in the hills and how a certain song just had to be sung at the top of the voice. “It is just that kind of song,” both characters remarked at different times.
Don’t you think declaring Christ’s birth is just that kind of message— a message that needs to be proclaimed at the very top of the voice? It makes me even more excited to share the message of the coming Christ this Christmas. Although I have heard the story over and over again, I pray it will never grow routine for me. I want it to stay new, fresh, and exciting. I never want to lose the wonder of that first Christmas. To know that Jesus was born to save me never ceases to amaze me, and I need to remember to share this incredible truth with those around me. It is a message that is not meant to be kept silent. Will you join me in telling those around you? Don’t let this Christmas go by without introducing someone to the joy that is the birth of the Savior.
cassiecontemplates 