God’s old-fashioned way of getting the Word out …

It is true that some things change, and some things seem to stay the same.

Take, for example, this report regarding the Swiss defense department …

“When the Swiss Department of Defense announced in 1994 that it would have to give up its 77 year old carrier-pigeon service because of financial constraints, a pro-pigeon group emerged to protest. If enough signatures were gathered, the issue of whether to abolish one of the world’s last units of military carrier pigeons would go to referendum.

“Although the country’s then 400,000-man reserve army has not fought a foreign war since 1515, its military traditions are almost sacred. The Swiss army’s pigeons, which fly faster than 35 mph, were used in both world wars to relay messages over mountainous terrain. Until 1994, the army owned some 7,000 pigeons and had another 223,000 birds owned by private breeders on standby in case of a national emergency. Pigeon breeders were especially angered by the plan because they trained the birds for difficult missions. The abolition of the carrier service meant that 250 militia soldiers would be trained for other duties, and a carrier-pigeon station near the capital city of Bern would be closed.”

It’s hard to believe that anyone would think carrier pigeons would be the best form of communication in the 21st century in the event of a military conflict. Our ability to get the word out about critical information is much more advanced than what any bird could achieve.

But some people want birds.

And God wants personal messengers.

When we look back at that first Christmas, we see God delivering critical messages to key people by sending a personal messenger …

To Joseph …

“As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins,’” Matthew 1:20-21.

To Mary …

“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!'” Luke 1:26-28.

To Zechariah …

“While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. But the angel said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer …'” Luke 1:11-13a.

To the shepherds …

“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior — yes, the Messiah, the Lord — has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.’ Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others — the armies of heaven — praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased,'” Luke 2:8-14.

And now that Jesus, given as a gift to the world on that first Christmas, has achieved His mission of making atonement for the sins of the world and providing for our salvation from sin, God still prefers to share that great message about Jesus through personal messengers. But there is one change — He isn’t sending angels to tell the Good News of Jesus, He is sending US as His personal messengers!

“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ,” 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.

God is still using an old-fashioned way of getting the word out about the Word — the Good News of Jesus — and that method is by sending personal messengers. The difference now is that WE are God’s personal messengers (Christ’s ambassadors) to the lost of this world, as He makes His appeal to them through us!

Are you serving God as His messenger to those who are lost in sin?

Scotty