Luke Devotional Shepherds Connexus Church Spiritual Journey

The 24 Day Devotion Day 2 – Why Your Ordinary Can Be God’s Extraordinary

By Jenn Hood, Barrie Campus, Student Ministry Coordinator – Barrie

Welcome to Day 2 of the 24 Day Devotion. So glad you’re joining us! Each day for 24 days as a church, we’re going to read one chapter of the Gospel of Luke and post a devotion on it.

If you’ve never read the Bible, we’re so glad you’re joining us. And if you read the Bible, we hope this helps you grow in your faith.

Need to catch up?  Start at Luke 1 – Is The New Testament A Lie? and follow along.  Today’s devotion is below.

9NRW55A25D

READ Luke 2

REFLECT

Sometimes, it can be hard to not get caught in the cycle of just going through the motions of day to day life.

You wake up.

You go to work.

You come home.

You go to bed.

And then you wake up the next day and do it all over again.

If you’ve opened your YouVersion App to Luke 2, or have your Bible open to Luke 2, you might be tempted to think – it’s just the story of Christmas – I know this. And then skip ahead to the next chapter.

But there’s a particular group of men in this series of events that have always stuck out to me in this chapter.

The Shepherds (Luke 2:8-20).

I’m not sure how much you know about shepherds, but in all honesty their role in society was a little ironic.

Shepherds were responsible for caring for and leading flocks of sheep. During this time in history, there were ceremonies that took place that called for a sheep to be sacrificed to atone for the sins of the people. But – because shepherds did the dirty job of caring for the sheep, they were considered unclean. This meant they were never allowed to participate in these ceremonies.

And because they were never allowed to participate in these ceremonies, they were also looked down upon and considered outsiders to the religious society of that time. You see the irony right?

Well – this is where things get interesting – at least to me.

After Jesus had been born in a stable to Mary and Joseph, there was a group of shepherds (ordinary men) watching over their sheep in fields just outside of town. They were doing their ordinary jobs, in their ordinary old lives, getting ready to go to bed so that they could wake up and do all of the same ordinary things again tomorrow. When things changed.

The shepherds were approached by angels from the sky, who were sharing the news about the birth of the saviour of the world.

These shepherds were the first to hear it. And they had a choice.

They could trust that these words were from God, and act on them. Or they could ignore it – and pretend like the news was intended for someone else.

As you read on, in verses 15 and 16, you will see that they showed faith in what they had heard and acted. They left to see this extraordinary news first hand. But for the shepherds, it didn’t stop there. God chose them to be the ones who would share the news of the birth of Jesus with the rest of the town (verses 17-20).

God chose a group of men who were, by all accounts, ordinary. He chose them to be the ones who would share the news of the birth of Jesus.

They boldly and courageously went into all of the town around them sharing the news that Jesus was born. And people listened. Not because of who they were, or the titles they held, but because of what they were sharing.

Sometimes we may feel ordinary. Doing our ordinary jobs, in our ordinary days, living out our ordinary lives. But in those moments, remember that God chooses to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

As you go throughout your day, think about the shepherds.

Consider their faith. Their faith that what they had seen and heard from the angels was true.

Consider their urgency.  Their urgency to see that everyone knew about what they had been told by the angels, and saw in that stable.

Consider their boldness. Their boldness to share the extraordinary – regardless of being ordinary.

BOTTOM LINE

God chooses to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

[bctt tweet=”God chooses to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things.”]

LIVE

If you were the shepherds, would you be ready? Would you be willing? Would you give up your ordinary life to be a part of the extraordinary plans God has for you? Would you trust God’s plan, in spite of not knowing what the outcomes might be?

PRAY

God, thank you for being the master planner, and orchestrating even the tiniest of details in the arrival of Jesus. Thank you for showing me, through the lives of the shepherds, that you choose ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Please help me to have faith when you speak, and to trust that we can listen to what you teach us through the bible. Give me the courage to act on the extraordinary things you are sharing with me – just like the shepherds shared the news of the birth of Jesus.

 

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Stay Connected By Subscribing To Our Blog!

No data was found

You May Also Like