The View From the Center
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field…
Luke 2:8
My dear sweet Ruby,
It has been a delight watching you grow and mature. I remember when you began to have self-awareness. Since then, you haven’t looked back! Like all little children, you tend to think the world revolves around you and get upset when it doesn’t!
I’m not scolding, we all have to deal with it. (And its mostly cute right now.)
But a sign of maturity is realizing that God loves you and others; that God has a plan for your life and everyone else.
The Christmas story reminds us of this.
Having a baby is a big deal. Giving birth to the Son of God…now that’s a really biggggg deal! It would have been for Mary to feel important—as if the world revolved around her. But “in the same region” God was up to something with other people. And here’s the neat thing, what he was doing in Mary and Joseph’s life and what he was doing in the Shepherd’s life was connected.
“Big deals” happen every day. Sometimes we have a very stressful day and we want the world to stop and give us a hand. Sometimes we have a very wonderful day and we want the world to stop and give us applause.
But the truth is, in the same region where you live others are having stressful or wonderful days.
More often than not, we are to be like the shepherds in the Christmas story and “go and see” and listen and encourage and help others. After all, God cares for all of us. Who knows, perhaps you are a part of the answer to someone else’s prayer. Perhaps you are to be the witness to someone else’s miracle and dream coming true.
This I know, we are happiest when we realize the world doesn’t revolve around us (or others) but around the King that was born on that first Christmas.
Love, Papa
Prayer: Father God, I pray that Ruby and I will not get so consumed with our lives – the good and the bad – that we forget that YOU care about others as well. Help us to be a part of your plan to redeem and restore our world. And above all, please help us to keep our Savior and King – Jesus at the center of it all. In His name, amen.
“Jesus At The Center”
Jesus at the center of it all
Jesus at the center of it all
From beginning to the end
It will always be, it’s always been You, Jesus
Jesus, nothing else matters
Nothing in this world will do.
