Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2: 10-11 (KJV)
You may have heard of the place, or you may have heard of the story.
But as the legend goes, there is a spot in England known as the Valley of the Roses. It is described by those who claim to have been there as a place where the air hangs so heavy from the perfume of the flowers that when you walk through that Valley the aroma of the roses clings to you and remains on your clothing long after you have passed through the Valley.
In fact, it is said that one can walk through the Valley of the Roses and at the end of that walk, they can come into a room filled with people who can look at you and catch the aroma of the roses coming from your clothing. Long after you have been through and departed the Valley, people who come in contact with you will know where you have been.
That’s what I want us to reflect on a bit today. On this day just a short week past another Christmas celebration for us. I’d like for us to not just read those words above again with our eyes, or listen with our ears to the words of the Angel, as recorded by Dr. Luke, and spoken so long ago:
“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord”
I’d like for us to hear those words with our hearts, so as we continue on in the weeks ahead, into the New Year of 2013 and beyond, people whom we come in contact with in the weeks, in the months, and in years ahead, will know where we have been. People we see and who see us, people we talk to and touch, work with and live with will know that we have been with Jesus.
They will know that we have been to the manger.
They will sense something different in us.
And that for us and our visit there this Christmas, it has not been just any day, any experience, any celebration, just another Christmas, but one where we know that we have been with Jesus. We have been to the manger and because of that visit there this time, our lives are different. We have spent time at the manger and because of our experience there our approach to life is different, and our approach to others around us and to the world is different. I might also be so bold as to suggest that our approach to others, and the world around, should begin to look like the approach that Christ would take. As Christ would want and would require of us.
They will know that we have been to the manger.
I don’t know what this past year was like for you. But I do know that for you and for me, it is closing behind us this very day. It is what it is, and was what it was—with all of its joys and disappointments, mountaintops and valleys. I don’t know what challenges and opportunities you are facing in the year ahead; a year which begins afresh and anew tomorrow.
But I do know, and want us to remember, that this past Christmas celebration has not just been any day, any experience, any celebration, any Christmas, but that we have been with Jesus. And that because of that experience, our lives are different, and our approach to all of the ups and downs of life, its valleys and mountains, will be different.
When we remember where we’ve been and who we’ve been with.
We’ve been to the manger and we’ve been with the Christ child.
And all the world will know.
That’s how we should enter a new day and a new year, tomorrow and always.
In His Name—Scott
Copyright 2012. Scott L. Whitaker. All rights reserved.
