The Joy in Family (Day 7)
Return Different
You're going to return to the same home, the same spouse, the same struggles. Nothing about your circumstances might change. But you can be different.
Luke 2:20 (ESV)
"And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them."
Devotional Thought
They returned.
That's how the story ends. The shepherds went back. Back to the fields. Back to the sheep. Back to the night watch. Back to the same work. The same obscurity. The same social exclusion.
Nothing about their external circumstances had changed. They weren't promoted. They weren't given new jobs. They weren't suddenly welcomed into the temple. They went back to the same life they had before.
But they were different.
Here's what I need you to know. The fields were the same. The men were not. Same sheep. Different shepherds. Same darkness. Different light.
Can I just say this? You're going to return to the same home after reading this. The same spouse. The same kids. The same bills. The same job. The same struggles that were there before you started this devotional series.
Nothing about your external circumstances might change today.
But you can be different.
You can return glorifying and praising God. Not because your family has been fixed. Not because your kids suddenly obey. Not because your marriage is now easy. Not because your health is now whole.
But because you have heard the announcement. You have embraced the reality. And that truth has transformed you.
Just like a farmer who returns to the same fields after a rain, the ground is the same but everything about what's possible has changed. The rain didn't move the farm. The rain made the farm fruitful.
The joy in family is the evidence of a transformed person living in an ordinary family.
We keep waiting for the conditions to change before we let ourselves experience joy. I'll be joyful when the kids grow up. When we're out of debt. When my spouse changes. When life gets easier.
But the shepherds didn't wait for conditions to change. They received the announcement. They embraced the reality. And they returned to unchanged conditions as changed men.
This is incredible truth. Joy is not something we manufacture. Joy is not the paycheck we earn after spiritual labor. Joy is not waiting for us at the end of our obedience.
Joy is an announcement we receive. Joy is a reality we embrace. Joy is a transformation we cannot hide.
The announcement has been made. A Savior has been born. Christ has come. The Lord is here.
Will you receive what has already been given?
Will you embrace what has already been accomplished?
Will you return different?
That's how the story ends. The shepherds went back. Back to the fields. Back to the sheep. Back to the night watch. Back to the same work. The same obscurity. The same social exclusion.
Nothing about their external circumstances had changed. They weren't promoted. They weren't given new jobs. They weren't suddenly welcomed into the temple. They went back to the same life they had before.
But they were different.
Here's what I need you to know. The fields were the same. The men were not. Same sheep. Different shepherds. Same darkness. Different light.
Can I just say this? You're going to return to the same home after reading this. The same spouse. The same kids. The same bills. The same job. The same struggles that were there before you started this devotional series.
Nothing about your external circumstances might change today.
But you can be different.
You can return glorifying and praising God. Not because your family has been fixed. Not because your kids suddenly obey. Not because your marriage is now easy. Not because your health is now whole.
But because you have heard the announcement. You have embraced the reality. And that truth has transformed you.
Just like a farmer who returns to the same fields after a rain, the ground is the same but everything about what's possible has changed. The rain didn't move the farm. The rain made the farm fruitful.
The joy in family is the evidence of a transformed person living in an ordinary family.
We keep waiting for the conditions to change before we let ourselves experience joy. I'll be joyful when the kids grow up. When we're out of debt. When my spouse changes. When life gets easier.
But the shepherds didn't wait for conditions to change. They received the announcement. They embraced the reality. And they returned to unchanged conditions as changed men.
This is incredible truth. Joy is not something we manufacture. Joy is not the paycheck we earn after spiritual labor. Joy is not waiting for us at the end of our obedience.
Joy is an announcement we receive. Joy is a reality we embrace. Joy is a transformation we cannot hide.
The announcement has been made. A Savior has been born. Christ has come. The Lord is here.
Will you receive what has already been given?
Will you embrace what has already been accomplished?
Will you return different?
Application Questions
1. What ordinary circumstance in your life needs the presence of a transformed you rather than changed conditions?
2. How will you carry the joy you've received this week back into your daily life?
2. How will you carry the joy you've received this week back into your daily life?
Today's Challenge
Before you go to bed tonight, name three things about your circumstances that haven't changed this week. Then name three ways you have changed because of what you've received. Let the second list be longer than the first.
Today's Prayer
Father, I return to my ordinary life today. Same home. Same people. Same challenges. But I don't have to be the same. I have heard the announcement. I have embraced the reality. Now let me be transformed. Let me glorify and praise You in the same circumstances that used to steal my joy. Let my family see the difference. Let my life be evidence that true joy comes not from what I achieve but from what I receive. I return different. In Jesus' name, amen.
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