Jesus Gives us more than Happiness
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“You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, . . .” (Isaiah 9:3)
Passage: Luke 2:8-12
When Luke wrote about the shepherds who were told by an angel that the Messiah had been born, he doesn’t tell us anything about their basic lives. What we do know is that in their culture, shepherds were viewed as one of the lowest socio/economic groups in Israel, especially by the religious leaders of the day. Since they had to be with the flock of sheep 24/7, they couldn’t attend worship in the synagogue, so basically, they probably felt shut out from God. They also were away from their family and any friends, so they may have felt shut out from society. They may have been generally happy with their lives, but God had something much deeper than happiness for them to experience. The good news about Jesus brought them joy.
Joy is an inner happiness that is not dependent on what happens around you. Joy depends on who you have within you. Joy is a choice that rises about any circumstance. Even in the midst of sad experiences, a believer in Jesus can have joy knowing that Christ is with him/her at all times and He will give grace to deal with whatever is happening. When the shepherds heard the word that the good news of the Messiah’s birth was for all people, they accepted that it included them. They weren’t shut out from God. He knew who they were and where they were. He let them be the first to see people to see Jesus next to Mary and Joseph. The experienced Christmas and meeting Jesus brought them joy. He does the same for us!
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