December to Remember Day 17

In Haste.

Rush.

Rush.
 
Rush. 

There are more things to do and more places to be than there are of you to go around. 

Is that how you feel this time year?

I assure you, I can identify.  Often, the nights don't seem so silent.  The manger seems so far AWAY ,  that I have to really refocus to find it.    

Away in a manger, where the little Lord Jesus lays down His sweet head, I think the stars in the sky got it right by staying right where they were and looking down where He lay.

The stars, right there at the manger.

Right where I need to be.

Everyday.

Not just at Christmas.

Remember that thing about you being a shepherd?  Yeah, that....   Since we're all shepherds, I guess we need to learn what the shepherds did after the angel came to visit.

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And it came about when the angel had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."  And they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in a manger.  -- Luke 2:15-16

How did the shepherds come?

In haste. 

Isn't that how me are moving about these days?  In haste?

What does haste mean?  Here's what Merriam-Webster.com says:

1 : rapidity of motion : swiftness 2 : rash or headlong action : precipitateness <the beauty of speed uncontaminated by haste— Harper's> 3 : undue eagerness to act

You know what it's like, you wake up each morning with a to do list in mind and as soon as your feet hit the floor, you do the best you can to get to the finish line.  You do it all with a sense of urgency.

But where are we going in our haste?

Where did the shepherds go in theirs?

Don't forget, that no matter who we are or what we do, we all have a flock of some sort.  Where the shepherds went the flock went also.

Where are you hastily leading your flock?

Let's plug in some of what we have learned in this series and go through these two verses again

Let us go straight to the house of Bread then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.  And they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as the Bread of Life lay outstretched in the feeding trough.

They led them straight to the feeding trough, where the Bread of Life was.

If your flock is following you, would they end up at the manger?  Would the destination be one filled with the food of everlasting life?


God, I shudder to think of where I have led people sometimes with my words, my actions, my attitudes.  Please forgive me and restore new opportunities to lead the sheep to the trough to eat from your hand.  Let me do your work and give people a chance to taste the manna from above.  Spirit, I give you permission to interrupt me and ask me where I am leading people in the day to day moments, not just during this season but during all seasons.