Your job is to follow the man with the stick. Wherever he goes, you go- you and the hundreds of others around you. That is pretty much all you have to do so you have a pretty easy life. Once the man with the stick lets you and everybody else rest in a certain spot you are completely free to frolic around and eat as much grass as your heart desires.
Oh I forgot to mention that you are a sheep. Anyway, you are a sheep, and consequently you are very stupid. It’s not your fault, all sheep are stupid and that’s not just being stereotypical, its fact.
It is a rather chilly night tonight but thankfully you have a built in sweater. Usually, you and the guys spend your evenings telling sheep jokes and making fun of the shepherds that fall asleep every time they try and count you. Tonight, however, will be a little bit different.
It started out with the blinding lights and the choir music that just completely disrupted your peaceful evening. Then, the men with the sticks decide to break camp and start moving. You are pretty ticked right now because you have been doing hard, strenuous, sheep labor all day and you have to rest your little sheep legs for the night before they collapsed from under you. Plus, you had some new jokes to try out on the guys and now you won’t get a chance.
The men with the sticks led you out of the nice, comfortable pasture and into the busy city below. You hate the way people smell and you don’t want to be around any of them. Now you find yourself in an already crowded stable staring at some kid sleeping in a feeding trough.
But wait! Something is different and you know there is something special about this baby. He isn’t like all the other smelly humans, he is like a lamb. Instantly you realize that this is far better than the evening you had planned for yourself. You realize that your rest, your needs, and your plans fail in comparison to this. The next time you feel like you are inconvenienced by your shepherd you remember that what he has planned for you is way better than sheep jokes.
There are way too many warm bodies in here tonight. You don’t know why, but a whole lot of people came in to town yesterday and brought their stupid camels with them. Now they are all sleeping in your house, eating your food and sleeping in your bed.
If that camel spits on you one more time, you swear you are going to stick a hoof where that camel doesn’t want it.
Now there are people staying here and they brought a screaming one.
You are not sure how long your patience can take all these stupid camels and their bad singing (“my humps, my humps, my lovely camel humps”) as well as this screaming woman. Suddenly a baby shows up, though you are not quite sure how it happened, and is placed right in your manger. Granted, you pride yourself in being able to chew the same piece of grass all day by spitting it up and swallowing it again, seeing as how you are in fact a cow, but you were ready to dig in to some fresh hay, but somebody dropped a baby in your manger and now dinner has to wait.
Suddenly you hear the bleating of sheep and you know that your night is about to get worse. You hate sheep jokes. You can hardly move on account of so many animals being in that tiny stable and your frustration level is at an all time high.
But then you see this baby smile and you know that this kid is not just any baby. You make up your mind that no matter how annoying your companions may be, how inconvenienced you might be, or how hungry you might be, seeing this kid makes it all worth it.
You are an ass, but you prefer to be called a donkey.
You are definitely a city donkey, and are very comfortable on the streets but you were not prepared for this. Your master has made you carry some heavy loads before on account of him being a carpenter and all but they were nothing compared to his fat fiancée.
This girl was tiny a couple months ago but she has a growth on her stomach that seems to be a pain for everyone around her. No matter how hard you try, you cannot walk smoothly enough to get her to stop complaining. This journey is taking forever and you are not sure how much longer you can carry this load.
You finally stop for the night only to find that the stable is full and that you will have no respite from the hormonal complainer tonight as she and her husband are sleeping with you. Great. Your legs are killing you and your back is stiff and all you can think about is how wrong it was for them to make you carry their load that long.
Suddenly, the woman starts looking like she is in a lot of pain. She seems to be carrying a load much bigger than you were and you realize that her journey here was a lot harder than yours. Now there is a baby and now you know exactly why you are here.
After catching a glimpse of this baby you decide that no burden is too heavy as long as you get a reward like that.
This Christmas your plans may have been ruined. Maybe you are surrounded by people who bring out the worst in you. Maybe you are tired and weary from carrying that load around so long. The only solution is to just catch a glimpse of your Savior and remember that it is not about you, but about what He did for you and is still doing for you. Remembering Him is the best way to forget your problems.
Don’t let your expectations get in the way of God’s extra blessings. You have the privilege of taking part in something much bigger than your imagination as long as you are up for the journey.
Awesome, Kyle!
ReplyDelete