8 In the countryside nearby were some shepherds spending the night in the fields, guarding their flocks, 9 when an angel of Adonai appeared to them, and the Sh’khinah of Adonai shone around them. They were terrified; 10 but the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, because I am here announcing to you Good News that will bring great joy to all the people. 11 This very day, in the town of David, there was born for you a Deliverer who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 Here is how you will know: you will find a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.” 13 Suddenly, along with the angel was a vast army from heaven praising God:
14 “In the highest heaven, glory to God!
And on earth, peace among people of good will!”
15 No sooner had the angels left them and gone back into heaven than the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go over to Beit-Lechem and see this thing that has happened, that Adonai has told us about.” 16 Hurrying off, they came and found Miryam and Yosef, and the baby lying in the feeding trough. 17 Upon seeing this, they made known what they had been told about this child; 18 and all who heard were amazed by what the shepherds said to them. 19 Miryam treasured all these things and kept mulling them over in her heart. 20 Meanwhile, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen; it had been just as they had been told.
21 On the eighth day, when it was time for his b’rit-milah, he was given the name Yeshua, which is what the angel had called him before his conception.
(Complete Jewish Bible).As a child I loved the game called “Memory.” I would set all the square cards down in rows. Then I would flip them over one-by-one, attempting to find matching pairs of cards by remembering where I saw it last.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize how much of life is similar: we have to remember what God has revealed to us as we wait for what God will reveal to us. Our growth and maturity as a follower of Christ builds upon what we learn over the course of our walk with God. We must remember in order to go forward.
This really should not surprise us given how often God must remind His people to recall what He has done for them in the past. In Deuteronomy God commands them to remember every day and to tell their children in order that they will know and remember. God told Joshua to have each tribe set out a rock from the river as a reminder that the river stopped flowing when the Ark crossed. Mary saved up the happenings around Jesus' birth and pondered them-surely throughout her life as she witnessed Emmanuel, God with us.
What do you remember?
Hymn for Today: "I Know Whom I Have Believed" by Daniel W. Whittle.
1. I know not why God's wondrous grace
to me he hath made known,
nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
redeemed me for his own.
Refrain: But I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day.
2. I know not how this saving faith
to me he did impart,
nor how believing in his word
wrought peace within my heart.
Refrain: But I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day.
3. I know not how the Spirit moves,
convincing us of sin,
revealing Jesus through the word,
creating faith in him.
Refrain: But I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day.
4. I know not when my Lord may come,
at night or noonday fair,
nor if I walk the vale with him,
or meet him in the air.
Refrain: But I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day.
Please pray: For faculty and students as they prepare for Christian ministry in Brazil.
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