12 Days of God's Character: The Christmas StoryChikamu

Day 9: God Sees The Small

Jesus, oh Jesus. He never came to turn the world upside down, but to turn it rightside up. Baby Jesus will later grow up and proclaim these words in what we call “The Sermon On The Mount”: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven…” (Luke 6:20).

From the very beginning of Jesus’s life, He was blessing the poor in Spirit: those that society deemed as less than and those with nothing to give but a hallelujah. We can see this in Luke 2, when an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds nearby, announcing the birth of Jesus.

This part of scripture is talked about often and even sang about in Christmas Carols/Hymns. Yet - we don’t talk about how countercultural this would have been to the Jewish people during this time. You see, shepherds were not high in society. In fact, they were very low on the totem pole. Some scholars even claim that the testimony of a shepherd was not admissible in court. Regardless, shepherds were not important and their position was not desired by anyone in Jesus’ time. Yet, these are the people that God first chose to share the good news.

The birth of the long awaited Messiah wasn’t first celebrated by the kings. It wasn’t first celebrated by the Pharisees or Religious Elites. And it wasn’t first celebrated by even the Magi (also known as Wisemen). It was celebrated by the lowly shepherds nearby.

God sees the small. God cares about those that society doesn’t think about. God honors the poor in spirit.

You may feel small - in your job, in your family, in your marital or parental status, or even in religious circles. But God doesn’t view you that way. Never. He cares about each and every one of His children - with a “rightside up” Kingdom that honors the lowly first and foremost. Take heart, He sees the small.