Scripture
The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
~Luke 2:20, NLT
Quote
FAITH is facing reality with confidence and hope.
~Charles Stanley
The bible is a deep book. Although it is a Divine/Human enterprise and a sacrament in a sorts, it is infinite in the sense that you and I {nor anyone else} can exhaust it’s contents. It amazes me, in my daily bible reading, how certain things leap from the pages into my mind and spark all kinds of thoughts. As I was reading yesterday, I came across Luke 2:20, which I have read hundreds of times, but yesterday these four words seemed to be italicized, “The shepherds went back.” Stop and think about it: these lowly despised shepherds had just experienced a once in a life time phenomenon. They saw and angel, a real live hovering angel. Then they saw him give heaven a whistle and a whole army of angels showed up in an instance. By this time, I would have wet my pants or worst. The angels inform them to go up the hill to a barn, probably not more than a mile from where they were standing, and there they would find a baby, and not just any baby but the Son of God, the Messiah. People had been waiting for this moment for thousands of years and it was all happening on this cool December night. They climb the hill and lo and behold, there is the Christ Child wrapped snugly in swaddling clothes. It is the greatest moment of their life. Nothing compares to this high and lofty moment of seeing God in the flesh. A winning touch down, a walk off homer or your child graduating college Magna Cum Laude {with great distinction} are nothing in comparison. They had never experienced anything like it.
This is what makes verse 20 so important: Then “the shepherds went back:” went back to what? They went back to their sheep, to their responsibilities, to their life. They went back to the common, the ordinary and sometimes the mundane. I love the high places. I love worship. I love meeting together with God’s people to celebrate the grace we have in Christ. I find it hard to believe that anyone gets more joy from worship than myself but everyday cannot be Sunday and this is the LORD’s doing, not mine. We need the Sunday high places but we cannot shirk our responsibility to go back to our daily task on Monday morning. Paul faced this problem with the Thessalonians. They became so “spiritual” that they quit their jobs and began having bible studies on roof tops {the kind of roof tops you see in Guatemala, flat and used as a porch or patio} and discussing prophecy. Paul said, “Enough of this, get your rear end back to work. If you don’t go back to work, you are going to starve because I am instructing the ones who are still working to feed your sorry buts to stop feeding you.” This is the JEV translation: Jack’s Everyday Version.
I have a lot of problems with liberals and I think most of them stem from their utter stupidity or insanity. Liberals are idealist. They live in a world of make believe. They think they can make this sin cursed world a utopia. They are idiots who need to wake up and face reality. This world is sin cursed. The fall of man gave us a bad concussion and a touch of insanity. Sin is insane. Killing babies is insane. Have sex-change operations is insane. Using dope is insane. Sleeping with harlots or whore mongers is insane. Everyone seems to think that Solomon was wise but I say he was nuts. Having one thousand mother-in-laws borders on insanity. There is only ONE solution to this sin and insanity and that is JESUS! In spite of what liberals believe, FDR, JFK and MLK are not the answer. Do you know what all three had in common other than being democrats? They never talked about the real answer and one of the three pretended to be a Baptist preacher. The only answer for sin and insanity is JESUS. The demos want more programs, more taxes, more government, all under the guise of fixing our problems and this only makes the problem greater.
- This blog is dedicated to Bill and David Wood–thanks for all your encouragement guys and Bill, thank you for your service. We are free today because of men like you.
- Well, we got a little rain at 1120: no mud but I can’t complain. I think we have another chance tomorrow. Every where I go to cut grass, it rains. Perhaps I need to cut my own yard.
- GOLDEN GIRLS this morning at Cracker Barrel.
- Seth leaves for Summer Camp today: his last as a Marine I hope.
- Stealing has become a problem in the area: last night someone broke into our house, saw what we had, left and returned with a care package. There is good in everyone if you just look. Seriously, I know three people the thieves better leave alone: if they try breaking in on these folks and they will be needing funeral arrangements. One of them lives in Danville, one in Oakville and one at Salem [just this side of the Tennessee line]. The one is Salem loves guns and hates thieves. His goal in life is to shot someone and he has a touch of dementia. I’d be afraid to knock on his front door after dark.