The Sign Of Swaddling Clothes

 Take a walk with me into Bethel Sunday. The sermon today was preached by Bro. Jonathan Walker. He preached from Luke 2:1-7 with the title of " The Sign Of Swaddling Clothes".  I highly recommend you watch listen to it here.  There is so much more that he preached on, but I want to share with you what stood out to me the most. I have heard thousands of sermons in my lifetime. This was the first time I have ever heard a sermon like this. I learned something new today and to be honest it was blowing my mind.  I am going to try and share it with you, but he made a statement that took my mind back in time and for a moment I didn't hear what he was preaching. Bro. Walker talked about the importance of swaddling a newborn baby. How it gives them a sense of comfort. That took me back to when RJ was just a newborn baby and doing the very same thing with him. Bro. Walker then began to talk about how Bethlehem was called a tiny town. Many wonderful things/people in the Bible came from this tiny town. Just outside of Bethlehem is a placed called Edar. This place is known as the place of the flock. It's where the firstborn male lambs are swaddled and placed in tiny mangers. They are checked for blemishes. The Shepherds who did this were considered outcasts. They were the unwanted ones. Yet, they had the job of overlooking the flocks. They were the ones who tended to the lambs that would be used once a year to atone for the sins of the people. Thus, when the Angels appeared to the Shepphards declaring Glory to God in the Highest. These unwanted men were chosen to be the first to see baby Jesus. They did not have to be told where to go to find Jesus. They knew that he could be found in swaddling clothes in a manger. There is only one place where that could be, Edar. Jesus was swaddled and, in a manger, meant for Passover lambs. At that moment, I was there in my mind. It brought the birth of Jesus to life for me like never before. It connected for me Jesus dying on the cross as the ultimate Passover Lamb. I have heard my entire life that He was the lamb slain for our sins. I just never could make the connection-visually until today. God is perfect in everything He does. Everything that happens is for a reason. There is a purpose to it. Don't rush what God is doing in your life. There is a reason for it. There was a reason there was no room at the Inn for Jesus to be born. He had to be born in the most unlikely place, because in reality it was the perfect place. Jesus always shows compassion to the unwanted ones. He shows compassion to the rejects. He gives new life to those who are in need of redemption. He is the giver of hope and new dreams. Jesus the savior of the world. I can't tell you how this hit home for me today. Jesus became so much more real to me. God is good.