Twelve Days of Christmas: Day Six-Footloose and Fancy Free

READ: Luke 2:8-20 (click on verses to read)

​Footloose and fancy free.  That's what comes to my mind when I think about those shepherds in the Christmas story, I suppose because of the way they dropped everything and went the Bethlehem to see the new born king. That term has a storied past, but most agree that it refers to someone who has no obligations to anyone, no love or family interests  to consider as they choose their path day in and day out. 

But footloose and fancy free doesn't really describe those shepherds. After all, they were poor peasants, trying to make a living in one of the most difficult occupations of that time. Day by day they wandered the hillsides outside of Bethlehem, moving their small flock around, making sure they got their fill of healthy foliage. At night they drew together – perhaps for camaraderie or comfort or for the safety found in numbers. Sleeping under the stars, they had to protect their lambs from predators like wolves or other savage beasts, making sure they didn’t wander off. The livelihood of a shepherd’s family, which may have included their parents or widowed sisters, rested on his shoulders. Even if he was a free spirit at heart or footloose in his yearnings, a shepherd didn’t have the luxury of doing whatever suited his fancy at any given time. 

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That’s what makes their reaction so intriguing. There they were, resting after a long day, perhaps sharing some bread and swapping stories, having no idea that they were about to be brought into the central drama of history. Out of nowhere, some strange and ethereal light splattered the night sky and an angel materialized at their feet, telling them of a Savior born in a stable. If that wasn’t enough to make them want to run for their lives, the deafening sound of an angel choir singing something like the Hallelujah Chorus came crashing in on every side. What in the world were they to think? 

But that’s just it – they didn’t think. They didn’t stop to talk about what they had seen, or to plan a course of action. They didn’t debate what to do with their sheep, or how they’d convince anyone of what they had seen, or where they would go once they got to Bethlehem, a city bulging with a million pilgrims. Someone said, “Let’s go”, and they all took off as if they hadn’t a care in the world. 

Those shepherds were making space for God, something that, ironically, I find harder and harder to do during this season.  Reading their story makes me want to change all that.  Though I’ve never witnessed the glory of the Lord filling the sky above me, or had an angel set my heart pounding, or heard a heavenly host singing arias to the Most High God, I know that God can break into the ordinariness of my days with thundering grace, leaving me with the same decision they faced.  Will I drop what I am doing and run to see what and where and when and in whom and how He wants to show me His glory? Will I make space for him?  

Footloose and fancy free.  Will you join me during these days of Christmas by offering Christ a heart that will drop everything to invite Him in? In the shopping, caroling, wrapping, eating, gathering, cooking and partying, will you determine to be a footloose follower of Jesus, if only for a minute or an hour or even a day? Who knows what glories might be ours for the taking if we do? 

RESPOND

​Think of times when you have made space for God.  What did He show you?  How did He meet you? Spend a few minutes reminiscing with a grateful heart. Now, what would it look like for you to drop everything and make space for God today?  This week?  Journal your thoughts with the Lord on this.

RESPOND

Worship the Lord as you imagine what it would have been like to hear the choir of angels singing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Offer your own song of praise, personalizing the Psalm below:
Send forth your light and your truth, 
let them guide me; 
let them bring me to your holy mountain, 
to the place where you dwell. 
Then will I go to the altar of God, 
to God, my joy and my delight. 
I will praise you with the harp, 
O God, my God. (Psalm 43:3-4) 

A CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY

​Ask God to enable you to do something completely out of the ordinary today. Listen for His voice throughout the day and when you hear that gentle whisper, drop everything as best you can, and go do it.