Idle Tales

Daily Reading:  Luke 24

Scripture Focus: Returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. (Luke 24.9-11)

Devotional Thought:  How wonderful to read about the resurrection of Jesus on Christmas Eve!  Christmas would be meaningless without Easter.  Easter would be impossible without Christmas.  

What do Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny have in common?  They are both holiday tales we tell our children.  What about the Baby Jesus and the Risen Savior?  They were both dismissed as irrelevant tales in their day.  People who saw them believed them, while those who did not see did not believe.

The women who went early to the tomb of Jesus had their lives changed forever.  The truth of what had happened found its way to their words as they told what they had seen.  This is the same thing that happened to the shepherds in Bethlehem: "They went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child" (Luke 2.16-17). 

The apostles who delayed going to the tomb thought that the women were telling an idle tale.  This was similar to what happened with the Wise Men and Herod.  The Wise Men went and found the Baby and worshiped him as king.  Herod did not go and sought to extinguish the idle tale of the one born King of the Jews.

Ask yourself: "Does my life make the stories of Christmas and Easter seem real to others?  Or does my life make Christmas and Easter seem like idle tales, fitting into the genre of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny?"

Prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the historical reality of your birth, your life, your death, and your resurrection.  Help me to live in such a way that others may see and believe.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 145.10-21

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you!

11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power,

12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works. ]

14 The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.

16 You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.

18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.

20 The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.