Many thanks to Lou for this beautifully written Christmas devotional.
“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1: 26-38.)
How often do we think, what will people think? How important are other people’s opinions of us to us? Obviously we need to consider other people, their feelings and their needs, but do we sometimes put off doing something we feel we should be doing, because others will think we’re odd. Or do we ever go along with something, just because everyone else is, even if we don’t feel it’s the right thing to do, or people will laugh at us or think us a bit strange.
Sometimes God calls us to do something which could cause other people to see us differently. We may be afraid of losing friends, or even members of our own families may disagree with us, but we are faced with the choice of pleasing people, or pleasing God.
Mary was a young girl. She was pledged to be married to Joseph, but she wasn’t married. What would people think when they found out she was expecting a baby? When she told them, “I didn’t do anything wrong, an angel came and told me I was going to have a baby. It’s by the Holy spirit.” I don’t suppose people would have said, “oh, that’s alright then.” No, Mary would have been judged by all those who knew her, and many who didn’t. The most important thing to Mary was to please God.
Then there was Joseph. What a shock he would have had! He would likely have been accused of dishonouring Mary. Joseph didn’t go at things like a bull at a gate. It says he planned to break things off with Mary quietly, but an angel spoke to him in a dream and explained things to him. So he stuck by her. Now the finger of judgment would have been pointed at him. We don’t know whether his family and friends turned against him, but we can imagine how his life wasn’t very easy at all. He was part of God’s plan, and he accepted that, choosing to please God.
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2: 1-20.)
We next think about the shepherds. What did they do? Well, they made their way into Bethlehem to find the place where Jesus was. I don’t suppose shepherds often went into town though. They lived with their sheep, protecting their sheep, out on the hillside in all winds and weathers, so I don’t suppose they smelt too good, or looked too tidy. They probably wouldn’t have been made welcome in town, and they would have known it. But they put aside their own concerns to go and see all the angel had told them. They risked being thrown out of town, being laughed at and many other things, because they wanted to please God.
In the gospel of Matthew we read about the wise men who followed the star to find Jesus, the king of the Jews. They probably met a few people on the way who may have looked at them a bit funny if they told them they were following a star to find the king of the Jews. They went to Herod’s palace, thinking to find Jesus there, but they didn’t give up when they found they were in the wrong place. Herod told them to tell him where they found the baby,, but an angel warned them not to go back to Herod, so they went home another way.
We don’t usually find ourselves in situations like Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, or the wise men, but we are often faced with the decision of pleasing people, or pleasing god. God was nudging me to go to church for many years before I took notice. I was too afraid of what people would think, or being laughed at. Yes, there are still those who don’t understand why I’m a Christian, and why I try to put Jesus first, and follow the way he would have me go, but God remains with me through everything. He loves each of us, that’s why he sent Jesus to this earth. And when we love someone in return, we want to please them. People, with their thoughts and opinions, come and go, but The Lord will always be with us.