More Devotions with Mike :-)

This one was based of Christ's Birth as recorded in Luke 2:1-20,

Does it strike anyone else as odd that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords would choose these circumstances to come into the world? Not only does He not even get a decent bed on which to spend His first night of human life. The first people God decides to share this joyous occasion with are shepherds. They were the most disreputable crew of people around during that day, kind of like the homeless in today’s society. You’d think the Master of the Universe would have gone to further lengths when bringing His own Son into the world. These days we might expect God’s Son to be born to wealthy parents, have an elegant bed and house in which to grow up and have become an instant celebrity through out ever-present world of mass media exposure.

Yet, if you think back to your Old Testament stories, I think you’ll see a pattern. God didn’t chose the largest and most powerful nation to be His People. When Israel began, it was just one man, Abraham, on a journey because of a promise, yet look what it became! David, Israel’s finest and most memorable king, started out as a shepherd boy. Moses was a murderer on the run. The list goes on. Is it my imagination or does it seem that God enjoys showing off? He loves taking the side of the underdog and showing the word just how much is possible through faith in Him. He goes bonkers when people are forced to look at a miraculous situation and say, “No way is this an ordinary occurance, Surely we have seen the hand of God this day.”

But maybe you’re thinking, if that’s the case, why don’t miracles happen every day? Wouldn’t such a God want to show off more often? I think miracles do happen everyday, we’ve just forgotten how to look for them. We expect humoungous showings and amazing healings. Yet look back at the birth story. The most amazing miracle of God’s coming to earth appeared as totally ordinary. It could have very easily gone unheard of. Maybe God does show off in little ways everyday. Yes, His grace is evident in the innocent smile of a child, especially in their birth. It’s there n the look of affection between two young lovers. It’s there in the promise of Spring and her sister Summer amidst the cold of Winter. In the tender touch of a caring nurse, In the precise cuts of a well-trained surgen. Even in the coming of death after a long suffering battle with cancer, He is there. And from within He draws all to Himself and yearns for them to know Him.

We too can play a part in God’s grace, for we are His hands and feet. We are called to minister to all as if we were ministering to Him. So let us walk in His Grace today and share it with all we meet.