Let's just start with this. 34 seconds of an adult sheep jumping on a trampoline.
There. Now don't you feel a little better?
Luke 2:15 seems rather innocent. The angels who appeared in the sky and starting singing leave and the shepherds decide to go straight to Bethlehem to see Jesus. Once there, everything was as they had been told and they can't help but tell others the good news and praise God!
But can you imagine how much work it would have been for the shepherds to leave their sheep in the field as they went to look for Jesus?
All of the joy they had in finding Jesus was initiated by a jump - intentional effort to go and experience the joy they had been told about.
Sometimes it's hard to get motivated to make the jump to Jesus, but we can trust that there is always joy in being with him!
How will you jump for joy this week?
Here's some ways we talked about jumping for joy at the Gathering this past weekend:
Jump out of bed a little earlier each day this week to have some intentional time with Jesus.
Be intentional about connecting with someone from church over a meal or coffee - no matter how many safety hoops you have to go through - because you want to make that jump for joy.
Forgive someone that you’ve gotten sideways with in 2020. Jump at the chance to find joy in restoring a relationship that you’re uncertain about.
Be like the shepherds who couldn’t help but tell people about what they had seen or heard. Make the jump of telling others about the joy that can be theirs in Jesus Christ. Your delivery person, your check out lady, your server as restaurants re-open, or maybe the family member you haven’t seen.
Tell people the good news with your Christmas cards, but maybe you’ll throw in the mail a few personal letters to people you love that need encouragement this year.
Return to your everyday lives with a whole new perspective. You’ll be praising and worshipping the God who gives you joy in everything you do. The people on the other side of the zoom will wonder where your joy infusion came from and you’ll be able to credit the jump to Jesus.
Make the decision to jump into the water and get baptized - you’ll let everyone know that your joy comes from Jesus!
What would you add to the list? How can you jump for joy?
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