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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion January 5, 2006 TREATING JESUS AS TREASURED CHILD OR REFUGEE? |
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Frontline Devotion for Thursday, January 5, 2006 by Pastor Dave Sonnenberg
Matthew 2: 13-15 reads like this:
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and
said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain
there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy
him.” 14Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went
to Egypt, 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill
what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have
called my son.”
The wondrous music sung at Christmas time includes the refrain which urges all
to join in-, “O Come Let us adore him, O Come Let us adore him, O Come let us
adore him- Christ the Lord.” With those words we began our
Christmas celebration in my congregation this year. To adore is to
worship, it is to “revere”, it is to honor, respect, love and cherish
someone.
Yet, a mere 10 days later, you and I get a text that is anything but
“adoring” the baby Jesus. Today, we have the exact opposite or
“antonyms” of adoring Jesus. The actions of King Herod (who in
yesterday’s lesson learned of “the new king” from the three wisemen; see
Matthew 2: 1-12) in seeking to kill all male children under age 2 was an
abhorrent action. It was an action of hate, spite, malice, violence, etc.
We could spend all day analyzing the action.
The point I’d like you to ponder today is that at Christmas, we hear stories
of Jesus being treated with joy, kindness, respect, and adoration. He is
“treasured”. Today, our story results in Jesus’ family being forced
to flee. Jesus becomes a “refugee”.
In our daily lives, do our actions show we “treasure” our relationship with
Jesus or do we too often tell him to “flee”- treating him as a refugee?
When we treasure Jesus, our relationships with others are based on love,
respect, and sacrifice. When we treat Jesus as a refugee, the world
somehow seems to revolve around us and we “become the center of the
universe”.
Treasured child or refugee child? It’s up to us. Who will Jesus be
in your life?
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry on the "Frontlines" of the world. Frontline Devotions are sent via email daily. Sign up by clicking on the box to the left. Pastor Dave welcomes feedback. Contact him at pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org. |
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