David Turner Blog

This Christmas I was struck by two aspects of the visitors in the nativity story. The shepherds and the wise men. Both were presented with an opportunity, to be a part of something bigger than they would ever know. But with the opportunity came risk. The wise men had to leave their home, their country and travel to a foreign land. The shepherds were asked to leave their flocks, probably not their own flocks but the flocks of their master. They were asked to trust God with their livelihood, their lives. But if they were obedient they are given an opportunity. An opportunity to see the king. And so it is with us. If we are obedient, if we are willing to take a risk, to trust in God, he promises us that we will see the king. The second aspect that struck me was how encouraging it must have been to have these visitors for Joseph and Mary. Sure scary at first, these are strangers at the most vulnerable time. But for Mary and Joseph this must have been a time of doubt. For Joseph wonder...

I suppose that we all know that hard work pays. If we have a messy house, and sit watching TV all day, then nothing will get done. But there are some things that just shouldn't be hard work right? Like friendships, and love, and diets (I wish). And what about faith? This is meant to be easy right? Faith in God is based on his love and grace, and so we often have this ideal in our minds, where we become a follower of Jesus and everything falls into place. I mean Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden is light, so this believing, following, being a Christian business should be dead easy. But the reality often hits us hard in the spiritual face, when things don't go as we planned. God doesn't answer, we don't get what we asked for, illness hits, death rears its ugly head, and all we hear is the clock ticking in the silence. Then when we fail to comprehend the complexity of this reality, that pain and faith can co-exist, we stumble and grind to a halt. No more mov...