Day 19 – The Days of Fear Are Over
Luke 2:8-10 ESV
Focal Scripture: And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
According to Spurgeon: The shepherds saw the angels and the glory of God shining around them and they were afraid. It wasn’t the silent gloomy night that provoked fear in them. They were afraid of the angel’s joy and God’s glory and grace. Even prophets in the bible were afraid when confronted by God or an angelic being. Adam who walked with God felt this same fear after he sinned. Our own sin convicts and drives us away from God. Maybe we are afraid to confront the ultimate judge, fearing we will be judged and condemned by Him. But this night there was great reason to rejoice. Jesus was laing in a manger. We no longer had to feel a separation from God. Our Savior was born, we could now be united to God. Our sin would be forgiven.
God Incarnate The End of Fear -Sermon delivered Dec. 23, 1866
My Thoughts: We live in a dark world. Where the greatest amongst us is still nothing but a filthy rag when compared to God’s goodness and glory. We are surrounded by evil, but we don’t always perceive it as evil. We grow numb to the wickedness around us. We run away from God fearing His judgement. We too feel the weight of our sin when called to the altar. We are aware we are not good enough, not clean enough to come to God. Luckily, He does not ask us to prove our worth before coming to Him. He does not ask us to improve ourselves or correct our mistakes before coming to Him. He just wants us, mess and all. He is good enough. He can change our heart, clean up our mess and sanctify us. All he asks is that we receive His son. Through Jesus we can access the Father. Because of Jesus we can rejoice.
Prayer Note:
May we experience complete joy over Jesus’s birth
May we be thankful for the salvation given to us