I have a frugal blogging friend who I’ve been sharing a few giggles with lately. We’ve noticed how many of our friends in the frugal blogging world love to use all CAPS when they share posts about great bargains. I get it. They don’t want you and I to miss out on spectacular savings. And believe me, I get pretty excited about a deal, friends. Still, I chuckle every time I see a tweet or Facebook share that says, “HURRY!” “GOING FAST!” and my favorite of them all “RUN!”
Then this week, I was at the Princess Youngest’s Bible Club at school and we watched a video from The Jesus Storybook Bible (which makes me cry every. time. I read it).
I’ve always been moved by the shepherds being the first to know of Jesus’ birth. They were the nobodies of their society – outcast and literally living on the fringe. And yet these people (many scholars believe they were children, the old, or women unlike our typical male nativity depiction) were chose above all others to bear a message of Hope and the first to worship the newborn King.
For some reason, in this telling I was struck for the first time with the shepherds’ haste to make it to the manger. They ran. And I truly mean RAN.
Panting,
sweating,
breathless,
with a pain in their side,
as quickly as their feet could carry them.
In a mania, they moved rapidly forward knowing all they needed lay in a manger ahead of their feet.
As fast as they could,
a full out sprint,
a heaving with their hands on their knees to catch their breath run.
They didn’t stroll to find Jesus. They didn’t meander or wander or take their time. They RAN. Full force. Gathered their long robes and made those sandals work for them while they booked it, friends.
As our hearts turn toward the Advent season and our days are filled with shopping and decorating, Christmas programs and family gatherings, it’s easy to run toward all sorts of things. Toward busyness. Toward the pursuit of a perfect Christmas (spoiler alert: it doesn’t exist). Toward bargains (which I love and I know my heart can be easily distracted by). Toward high expectations that are often unfulfilled.
We watch B reel footage of half-crazed shoppers mowing each other down on Black Friday and shake our heads in dismay. “Tut, tut. Those people don’t know what Christmas is truly about.” But do we know what it’s about?
And so my prayer and hope for you this Christmas is that you RUN! Not toward deals or gifts or even the very good things of the season like family and food (mmmm Christmas cookies). May we – together – gather all of our imperfections and beat it. I’m certain we all feel a little left out just like those shepherds did, sitting just beyond the cool kids, living what we might think is an insignificant experience. But we are given the same message, the same declarations, the same best gift that a ragtag group on a hillside did over 2000 years ago.
May we sprint, full speed ahead to find the greatest of all gifts. He no longer lays in a manger but we can worship Him all the same. Let’s not hesitate or put it off until tomorrow. Let’s be wrapped all season long in the amazing, miraculous remembrance that “For unto us is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”
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