Routine or Upside Down?

A Series on Advent
The candle of peace – the shepherds
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 2:1-20 

[Advent is the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Tradition includes lighting four candles: hope, love, joy and peace. To celebrate Advent, we will be looking at four people plus one who were intimately involved in the Christmas story, and then relating their part of the story to one of the Advent candles.]

  

Life can feel upside down at times.

 

Since I retired, I’ve developed a pattern in life that has a certain ebb and flow to it. It includes working on this devotional blog, practicing piano, picking up my granddaughter on Tuesdays, meeting with friends for breakfast or lunch and going to choir practice. It’s pretty routine.

 

The shepherds probably had a routine to their life also. Most likely this included feeding the sheep and giving them water. Or if one got lost or caught in a bush or wandered from the herd, a shepherd would search and bring them back to safety. For the most part it was fairly mundane.

 

The only time there would have been any real excitement is when a predator would try to attack one of the sheep. It doesn’t take much imagination to visualize a shepherd jumping to his feet with adrenaline rushing and doing whatever it took to protect his sheep.

 

The night the angel appeared to the shepherds was no doubt just like any other night... routine. However, they were totally unaware of the life-changing drama that had taken place in Bethlehem. They didn’t know anything about the couple who had come into town in the ninth month of her pregnancy, only to give birth in a stable to a son.

 

But then the angel appeared to them and told them this news. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

 

¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”         ESV

 

This is the news that the shepherds brought to Joseph and Mary. It was a message about peace. Not outward peace, but inward.

 

⁶ For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.              Isaiah 9:6 NIV

 

Christmas is often routine. We sing the same carols; put up a tree with the same ornaments; listen to the same Christmas story. But for the shepherds, it was anything but routine. In fact, their lives were turned upside down.

 

So… where are you in the Christmas spectrum? Are you settling for the routine? Or embracing the Prince of Peace with the risk of turning your world upside down?

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

 

Wheaties - the Breakfast of Champions… not Change

A Series on Living by Faith

Genesis 6:9-22; Hebrews 11:7
(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%206%3A9-22%2CHebrews%2011%3A7&version=NIV;NLT

 [Hebrews 11 is a recounting of the Heroes of the Faith. Even though they never saw what they had been promised, each person is commended for living “by faith”. At the end of these commendations, Hebrews 12 tells us, “Therefore, because you are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses… throw off sin; run with perseverance; fix your eyes on Jesus”. In other words, live “by faith”.]

  

I don’t like change. And in my opinion, there is something very positive to be said for routine.

 

Take my morning routine for instance. My alarm goes off at 6:15; I take my temperature (thank you COVID); shave, shower and get dressed while watching the news; work on my devotional/blog; eat a bowl of Wheaties (the same breakfast for over 50 years); and drive to work.

 

Yes, routine is definitely a part of my daily life. It helps me to get everything done efficiently without having to think about it. If something does happen to throw off my routine, such as our kitty throwing up, I’m playing catch up the rest of the morning. I absolutely don’t like change.

 

I’m guessing that Noah had a routine to his life. In scripture, he is referred to as “a man of the soil” … a farmer. And as a farmer, Noah must have had a routine that depended on the seasons. Plus, Noah raised three sons, and routine is something you always strive for in a family.

 

But the Lord had a plan that would mean drastically disrupting Noah’s daily routine; it would mean a change of quantum magnitude. Because the earth was “full of violence” and the people had “corrupted their ways”, the Lord stepped into Noah’s life, turning it upside down.

 

¹⁷ I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.        NIV

 

Not only was Noah enlisted to build the ark, but to live there. How did he respond to this colossal change; this great unknown task and event?

 

²² So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.    NLT

Just imagine what a step of faith it was for Noah to be so obedient. Scripture tells us that “people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark”. Nobody had a clue, including Noah, what the ark would really mean for them. But Noah listened and obeyed.

 

How do you respond to change? Do you stop, look and listen for the Lord; or do you panic? Is the Lord asking you to make a change in your life? Or to keep eating Wheaties – the Breakfast of Champions?