Focal Passage: Luke 2:8-12, 16-18, 25-32
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11, KJV).
The words of the angel of the Lord to terrified shepherds are familiar, yes, but still breathtakingly exciting. The Christ is born and by His coming, God has given all people His way of salvation.
In Luke 2:10, the angel says to the shepherds, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people (emphasis is the author’s).”
Later when Mary and Joseph take Jesus to Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice according to the law of the Lord, the worshipper, Simeon, devout and filled with the Holy Spirit, was allowed to see Jesus before he, Simeon, died. In his prayer of thanksgiving to his Lord, Simeon prays, “For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel (author’s emphasis)” Luke 2:30-32.
Jesus says, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations” (Matt. 28:19).
My Lord Jesus came to be the way of salvation for all people, and I love Him so much, because He first loved me, that I cannot stand the thought of the people of all nations not being able to learn of Him. That is why I love missions.
That is why I pray that the Lord of the harvest will call laborers to work in His fields (Matt. 9:38). That is why I have promised my Savior that I will go wherever He sends me. That is why I give to missions, so that those God calls can go and make disciples wherever He wants them to go; places that I may not be able to go. That is why I pray for our missionaries in other nations, because they have acted on God’s call, and have planted their lives among those who need to be shown by the missionaries’ witness that Jesus truly does love them so much that He died for them.
I praise God with my whole being that He allows me to be able to help proclaim, by praying, giving, educating, and going, that my Jesus is Savior of the world.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!