BYM ONLINE DESK Blessing English Emagazine December 2019 | Page 2

www.bymonline.org | December 2019
While Shepherds Watched...
Dr. Mrs. Lilian Stanley
The Spirit of Yuletide is already sweeping across the world and we should rejoice that Christmas is the only
festival that is celebrated all over the world. As we read the Christmas story, our theme for the year shows up here and
there as in the case of the shepherds who were keeping “watch” over their flocks in the night (Lk 2:8). Let's browse
through the theme at the end of the year and retrospect all that we studied through the year.
The Bible warns us repeatedly to be sober and careful because even though we may be bubbly in spirit, we are
prone to buckle in the body. Why? Because the spirit is ever ready and willing but our body is unable to cooperate as it
is not as strong as the spirit. “Watch….the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mt 26:41). We need therefore to take
every effort to be alert so that we will not fall prey to the devil who goes around roaring like a lion looking for people
whose eyes are half closed that he may pull them down and swallow them up.
1.Alert in Daily Life
God had promised David, “If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before Me with
all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel”
(1 Ki 2:4). David passed on this information to Solomon. However, Solomon, though very good, was not watchful
enough. This happens to all of us. “Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had
done” (2 Ki 18:3). So much so God miraculously delivered Jerusalem from Sennacherib. But pride sneaked into his
spirit subtly. His sickness struck a cord in his spirit and he confessed, “I will walk humbly all my years” (Isa 38 : 15).
But when envoys from Babylon came to enquire about his illness and recovery, Hezekiah showed them “everything.”
He didn't think much about it but God saw that his action was tinged with pride and pronounced a punishment (39:1-
8). “In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the LORD, and he answered
him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah did not respond according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud.
Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem. But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his
heart…”(2 Chr 32:24-26). See how easily the highly spiritual can slip! Pride is a universal sin that shows up before we
know it. How our ears cock up when somebody praises us! How we take pleasure in boasting about our
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