Have We Lost the Wonder?

Read Luke 2:8-18.

And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told to them (Luke 2:20).

Can you imagine how the shepherds felt that first Christmas? They must have been filled with amazement and awe and wonder. They believed what the angels told them. They didn't try to rationalize that it was only some vision or hallucination, and they rushed to find this special child, their Savior. After they had seen Him, they told others of the miracle, the wonder of it all. 

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds (Luke 2:18).

Read Acts 2:1-7.

After Pentecost, the early church was filled with wonder at all that had happened and the power of the Holy Spirit. The first congregations were committed to their faith. Through the years, the world and familiarity have chipped away at this. As A.W. Tozer writes in Paths to Power:

The greatest event in the history of the world was the coming of Jesus Christ into the world to live and die for mankind. The next greatest event was the going forth of the Church to embody the life of Christ and to spread the knowledge of His salvation throughout the earth.

Do we still recognize the Christmas story and the message of what Christ has done for us as the greatest event the world has ever known? Or have we let worldly pursuits and values make our faith lukewarm or biblical accounts too familiar to be appreciated. Have things of the world erased our awe and amazement? Have we lost the wonder of it all?

________________________________