Hi Folks,
I hope you are having a great week!!! Below are 2 devots. that caught my eye this week. The first one is about poor shepherds who were the first ones to be told that The Savior had been born.
There is something very significant about the angels proclaiming the news to the shepherds first. At that time they were considered ceremonially unclean. I asked my Pastor to give me a little more insight on this and he said, "It would appear that by Jesus time they were considered "unclean" because these shepherds were not nomadic, but would live on the hillsides with the sheep from March-October. Because they were unable to "separate" themselves from the livestock for any period of time and because they were unable to practice the "ritual washing" required by the temple priests they were considered unclean."
Now what interests me is that these shepherds may have been some of the ones to raise sheep to be bought and used as animal sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem. At that time, God's way of the people being cleansed and forgiven of their sin was through the blood of certain animal sacrifices.
Hebrews 9:22 says, "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission {forgivensss}." But When Christ came, the Bible says that He became our sinless sacrifices, the Lamb that was slain for the sins of the world.
1 Peter 1:18-19, "knowing that you were not redeemed (using the terminology of a slave being bought from the slave market-i.e. we being bought back from the slave market of sin) with [a]corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."
In light of this, I was thinking how sad it was that those who were a part of something so important-raising sheep whose blood would in turn be God's means, at that time, of cleansing, covering and forgiving sins- would be considered the lowest of the low, "untouchables." And yet God made a point of sending a great multitude of angels to them in the sky to proclaim that God had come!! And then they were to be the messengers to spread the word to others. Wow!!! I believe this was God's way of showing that He was no respecter of persons, He was coming to save everyone-rich, poor, those who considered themselves righteous and those who were humble enough to admit that they were sinners. But God wanted to tell the lowest of the low first in order to show how greatly He loved them!
Romans 2: 6, 10-13 says, "Who (God)will render to every man according to his deeds: But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified."
The 2nd devot. I have below reminds of Christ's humble beginnings. Think of coming from a place where there are streets of gold and gates with different precious gems on them (Revelation 21), the worship of angels, (Revelation 7:11), the adoration and praise befitting the King of all (Revelation 17:14, 19:111-16) and coming to a smelly stable and having a feed trough as your bed? From a human standpoint, I'm not sure I would be willing to do that for anyone, but Christ was willing to do that FOR US.
"Let this mind be in you, (have the following mindset of humility) which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (i.e. because He WAS God) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (God took on human flesh and yet remained God) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (1 Pet. 2:5-8).
It's an awesome thought if you dwell on it long enough.....
Well, enjoy pondering the below devots. I hope you and yours have a blessed and healthy weekend!!!!
(Devots. used by permission. Taken from https://www.dayspring.com/)
The Shepherds Told Their Story:
Humble Beginnings:
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