Live with Hope in the Heart

In a couple of days the madness will be over. The stores will be back to their normal hours. The Christmas lights – well most of them – will be coming down. Parties over. Wrapping paper in trash. Fudge eaten. The important thing for us is what we do after we have seen Jesus. After the angels left and heaven was silent, the shepherds went to see Jesus. After the angels visit, Mary said “let it be.” Joseph chose to marry Mary. Gideon led an ill-equipped army. Moses marched with the Jews through the desert. Fishermen dropped their nets and followed the Master. What have you done with the grace you have been given? When I was going to Candler I always saw this car with a bumper sticker that read, “Safe women don’t change the world.” A group of psychologists got together to study regret. They asked the question, “As people reflect on their lives what do they most regret?” The surprising answer is that most people regret the things they left undone more than the mistakes they’ve made. The shepherds had heard from heaven and they acted. They would never have to look back on their lives and say I wish I would have done something with the message that the angels had shared with us. Never would they have to say, “I wish I would’ve ….” How many times will we say that? On December 26th and the days following what are you going to do with your encounter with the Christmas miracle. Do something. Live the life that God has given. Empower others. No regrets! Howard Thurman has a poem entitled “The Work of Christmas.” He says, “When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among the brothers, To make music in the heart.” Go ahead live life like the shepherds. Live with hope in the heart.