This Christmas season finds our church in the middle of a study called The Story. The premise is to look at the individual stories of people in the Bible (lower story) and see how they relate to God’s overall plan (Upper story). As I sit here thinking of the Christmas story, there are many individuals in the Christmas story and they all played a part in the overall story.
Elizabeth and Zachariah- faithful servants of God who are blessed in their old age by a child who would become the prequel for the Messiah. God had been silent for 400 years- but spoke to this faithful couple.
Mary and Joseph- two young people in love and ready to get married- God stepped in and asked the impossible- for them to parent His Son- the savior of the world. I am sure the tongues were wagging when the news came out about Mary’s pregnancy.
Nameless shepherds in the fields- we do not even know their names- but they saw and believed the angels and were among the first to see the Son of God. Can you imagine the story they shared for the rest of their lives?
The wise men- they had only heard of the baby King from scrolls left by a prophet named Daniel- still they came a long way to see this King- worshipped Him and returned home. Can you imagine what happened in the royal courts when they told their story?
So many individual stories make up this one story. So many different characters that God used to execute His Upper Story of sending a Savior into the world for us. His Upper Story included individuals back then and even us today. Take a few moments this Holiday week to think about where you are in God’s story- are you ready to be used to do His will- even if it is only to go see a little baby and spread the news. Something to think about…..