But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)

We tend to think that expressions of pure joy are only for the young. It is delightful to watch a young child who cannot contain his or her excitement on Christmas morning. When our children were young, their anticipation of Christmas day was absolute, unadulterated delight. The gift itself hardly mattered. One of our children exclaimed after opening a five dollar toy, “This is going to be such a better life!” The same child was brought to joyful, sobbing tears the next year when she received a puppy.

Toys and puppies come and go, but in today’s passage, we are invited to imagine lonely, lowly shepherds struck with awe and wonder at the good news. Perhaps their low social position removed the false dignity and pride that would have prevented others from running joyfully and unabashedly to share the news. After all, the birth of Jesus was not simply a “gift” to the world. His birth was markedly more. He was and is Savior, Redeemer, Lord.

Good news is palpable. It turns darkness into light, despair into delight, blindness into sight. Good news is the opposite of bad news. It is not neutral, grey, or benign. Good news transforms. Far from a simple gift, Christ’s birth meant redemption, restoration, and transformation. We must rediscover childlike delight—the joy—of the good news.

Rediscover childlike joy, unabashedly proclaiming the good news.

Dalene Rovenstine Fisher is a wife and mother. She serves as the dean of arts and sciences at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.