Great Joy!

 "But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.'"       --Luke 2: 10+11--

Good news that will cause great joy. When I read those words I remember an old, wrinkled and hunched up woman. She was so hunched up that she was almost doubled over at the waist. For that reason, she was simply referred to as "nenek bongko" (the crooked grandmother). Please do not misunderstand; that name was not used with disrespect or derision, but rather it was a pet name that had stuck and was said with love. 

It was evident that "the crooked grandmother" was "outwardly...wasting away, yet inwardly...being renewed day by day" (II Cor.4:16). And indeed, what a beautiful old lady she was! She had come to believe in Jesus as her Savior and Lord in her old age, and had been baptized by my husband in our church. And how excited she was! She was filled with joy that Jesus was her Savior. Every day was a bright new day full of hope, even though I am sure her poor stiff body must have ached with great pain every day. But I never once heard her complain about it and wouldn't have guessed it by the big toothless smile with which she greeted both young and old. Every week she would start asking her children and grandchildren on Wednesday already, "Is it Sunday yet? Can we go to church and hear more from that preacher about God?" The next day she would ask the same question, and on until Saturday, when she would get a satisfying answer, "Tomorrow is Sunday. Tomorrow we go to church." She would be up very early the next morning, get herself ready in her Sunday best and walk up the steep hill to the church, making her way bit by bit to the church building. She had to rest a couple times, to catch her breath, and one time she even fell on her way up that hill. But nothing could keep her from attending that worship service. 

How cool is that?! Those of us who were born into Christian families and grew up hearing the gospel over and over, sometimes unfortunately take things for granted and don't often get really excited about the message of salvation. But let's go back to thinking about the simple truth of the gospel, which most of us celebrated last week, and was the exciting news first brought by the angel to the shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem. Let's listen again, with fresh ears to that news. A little over 2000 years ago in the town of David a Savior was born to us -- to you and to me!! He wasn't just a cute little Jewish baby, but He was the promised Messiah, God's Son sent into the world to fulfill God's plan of salvation from sin and restore our relationship with God. Because of that, as it says in Psalm 103:12 "as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." Wow!! Praise God for that!! Let's thank God every day for that wonderful gift!!

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