This week we light the forth advent candle. These candles help us to remember the hope, peace, love, and joy found in God that were proclaimed through Jesus' birth. These weeks leading up to Christmas Day are a great time for reflecting on the first coming of the Messiah and our hopeful expectation of His return.
The shepherds in Bethlehem experienced great joy when the Angel announced, “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! The Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord – has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David,” Luke 2:10-11. After they had gone to see this small Savior Luke 2:20 says, “the shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said.”
Like the shepherds, joy naturally flows out of our hearts when we encounter the saving power of Jesus in our own lives. As we stand in wonder of what we once were and what we are in him today, we have reason to rejoice! Once we were lost and now we're found, once an enemy and now a friend, once brokenhearted and now made whole. And the promise of Jesus' coming again gives us reason to live in expectant joy!
May we make time to joyfully celebrate the gift of Jesus and share the wonderful news with those around us.
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