The Moment That Changes Everything

I'm reminded of our fragility as people.  Here one day, gone the next.  Which makes each moment....each second of this life full of significance.  We truly don't know which moment will be our last, so we must live each moment on purpose.  Are you floating through life or living on purpose?  I think the Shepherds were floating.  Day in and day out, they took their flocks to their fields and watched- not anticipating anything in particular, just watching.  Watching sheep sounds about as monotonous as it gets.  Sure there are moments when you are forced to leap into action and protect the sheep, but those moments are few and in the mean time silence and boredom to fill the nights. 

In that one moment, everything changed.  The angels entered the horizon quicker than a heartbeat and proclaimed a life changing reality not just for the Shepherds but for all of mankind that moment forward.  LIFE.  SALVATION.  PEACE.  JOY.  LOVE. The answer to all of life's questions had just been born, in a manner so humble that barely anyone noticed.  But heaven met earth...in that moment.  And everything would be different forever.

Do you think the Shepherds ever took their jobs for granted again?  Do you think Joseph ever looked at Mary the same again?  Yet we get stuck in monotony, we get stuck living our lives and floating through; engaging our brains with the temporary in order to avoid the eternal.  I invite you this Christmas season, to be rocked by the news again- perhaps for the first time.  "For a child has been born- for us!  The gift of a son- for us!  His names will be:  Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness.  His ruling Authority will grow and there will be no limits to the wholeness He brings." (Isaiah 9:6 THE MESSAGE)

Because I cannot do it by myself, I need the AMAZING COUNSELOR.  Because i am weak, I need the STRONG GOD.  Because I am an earthly son, I need the ETERNAL FATHER, and because of my short-comings, I need the PRINCE OF WHOLENESS.  And He is here, He was born at Christmas.  So now I must live for Him, every moment on purpose for Him.