“When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished” (Luke 2:15-18, NLT).

Boxing Day, the day after Christmas is basically about giving some of what you have to those who have less. (We learned that while living in Australia). That’s the scene here. Follow me…

What do you do when angels appear in the middle of the night and say, “Your Savior’s here,” and then fill the formerly “silent night” with exuberant praise? You outrun Usain Bolt into town to search. And that’s what they did. They searched for and found the baby, as predicted, wrapped in rags, nestled into a feeding trough.

Perhaps the shepherds’ next move was predictable but still commendable. “They told everyone what had happened,” admitting they’d been directed by an angel. Understand this: They had to bridge an existing credibility gap. Shepherds weren’t held in high regard back then. They were often ceremonially “unclean” due to the death, blood and mess they lived around connected to shepherding. But they “told everyone” what they knew. It took courage, faith, humility, obedience and love for their neighbor. These shepherds were the first human evangelists for Christ.

These shepherds didn’t know much. Only that Jesus had arrived. Our theology is far more filled-out with information on the life, ministry, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. So let’s be “shepherdy.”

Don’t keep what you know to yourself. “Tell everyone what happened” in Bethlehem, Nazareth, Galilee and Jerusalem. Let’s share what we know. It’s such great news. It’s the Gospel. (And Happy Boxing Day, mates!)

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isaiah 6:1).

“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world” (Psalm 19:1-4).

What stops you in your tracks? Here’s my short list:

• The sight of a multitude of stars decorating a moonless, cloudless sky.
• The sound of ocean waves crashing or tiny ripples quietly lapping the shore of a nearly still lake.
• The fragrance of a citrus grove in full blossom.
• The majesty of Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, the mighty Mississippi or the California coast through Big Sur.
• The song of a lonely night bird.
• The sunset and sunrise on just about any given day.

All of these beg me to linger for at least a moment before I turn back to whatever I was doing before the glorious interruption. They all still make me breathe out an audible “WOW!” as well as a “Thank You!”

I am convinced that is exactly what God expected our response would be when we discover the degrees and depths of the beauty He packed into every millimeter of His universe, an expanse we’ve only just begun to explore. All of this stunning beauty was intended to capture our attention and fill our hearts with wonder and our senses with pleasure.

But consider this. In Romans 1:18-20 Paul makes it clear that before God put His finger to the stone tablets given to Moses, He had already written a very articulate “text message” in creation. The two stone pages Moses delivered to Israel carried 10 basic instructions to frame our relationship with Him and one another. But God’s first book, “written in the heavens,” is written, not in words, but in wonders and covers the sum total of all that surrounds us in the physical and visible universe, a universe that unfolds further than we can see or measure.

In science textbooks, this creation has been renamed “nature.” That’s not necessarily a bad move, as long as we understand that the nature behind nature is the nature of God Himself.

God reveals Himself through all He’s made.

There is something profound in the message of God’s “first textbook,” a book written in the heavens above us and the earth beneath our feet.

How is it then, that so many who are captured by and revel in the exquisite beauty of nature seem to miss the accompanying glory of the loving God who created it all to sustain us and delight us?

God’s glory is reflected in the beauty that stops us in our tracks. His power is seen in the forces of “nature.” His tenderness is revealed in the delicate and fragile beauty of a mountain or meadow filled with wild flowers, chattering animals, giggling streams and hosts of other marvelous critters. His power and even fury (a topic for another time) is seen in a frightening thunderstorm or erupting volcano. His genius is evident in the astonishing complexity of the very 12 or so systems that work together to keep each of us alive and interacting with one another.

And may we never forget this: All that beauty would have literally fallen on deaf ears and blind eyes if God had not also designed us with a bundle of senses that make us aware of both the beauty in front of us and the glory behind that which has captured our attention. Those five basic senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste are meant to remind us of the Giver, God, the Maker of heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1).

Perhaps it all really does come down to one simple observation.

Is it possible that God’s extravagance in creation was meant to simply capture our attention, so He could capture our hearts?

After all, doesn’t it seem like He went overboard in His explosion of creativity? Like an artist painting a masterpiece to capture the attention of a love interest, or the bashful boy who knocks on the door with a fist full of flowers. That simple, beautiful gift is a mere gesture of the heart and intent of the Giver.

So the next time you are stopped in your tracks, as your senses engage and you stand breathless before the beauty of creation, take time to ponder the glory of God behind the beauty of nature, and perhaps add a “Thank You!” to your “Wow!” and surrender more deeply to the One who has “richly given us all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17).

God likes creativity. It’s possible to think He is merely a strict taskmaster in the sky, begrudging us any sort of enjoyment in life. But He is the Creator God, and we are made in His image and likeness. That situation holds plenty of implications for us. God made us to enjoy relationship with Himself and with other people. He made us for fellowship, expression and sharing. He gave us the ability to respond to His love and share it with others. He talks a lot about joy. Expression is personal response. It’s worthwhile to express.

1. Creative Expression Is Incarnational

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth… And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace” (John 1:14,16)
Jesus is the ultimate expression of God: the Word, the image of the invisible God, put on flesh and became a Man not just so we could see or hear about His grace and truth, but that we could behold His fullness in real life. Simply by knowing Jesus and believing in Him, we receive the fullness of His grace. If expression could have no other topic, wouldn’t grace be sufficient? It’s real; it’s messy. It’s unbelievable; it’s lovely. It’s free; it’s heart wrenching: characteristics which typify all the best art.

If our lives, art and expression are known for the grace of God at work within us (in all the various forms it manifests), then our art has become incarnational: We have let the Word of God put on our flesh because we’ve received fullness of grace. (Plus, receiving full grace means being humbly enabled to give it; nobody likes a know-it-all, but everyone likes a fellow learner.) Art is humble and honest and raw and helps people interpret life. Let’s interpret through the lens of the Gospel and the love of God.

2. If The Word Is In Us, We’re Able To Express

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).

This Biblical command is quite simple: Let the Word dwell in our hearts richly. Let the Word in, and we will have the grace to praise the Lord and encourage others. It will make us wise, so we aren’t just venting our feelings or proclaiming something other than the Gospel. Furthermore, obedience to this command actually enables every person in the church to write “worship songs” — and it doesn’t require musical talent. We can teach and help one another by the songs of praise (musical or otherwise) that we share because of the Word in us.
Maybe by dwelling on a passage during a particularly hard season, we will find a treasured promise, which becomes the “new song” in our mouths until we are brought out of the pit, like David sings about in Psalm 40:1-3. When we simply let the Word say what it says, it changes our perspective, and God changes us. Please note that expression is a God-given gift to all people, not just the ones who think they’re creative. This is for all of the church, to the glory of Jesus. It’s not self-glorification; it’s practically and humbly relating with God and others. Let’s communicate from the position of learners and listeners, with a well-watered garden of the Word of God in our hearts.

3. There Is No Secular Or Sacred

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17).
“Whatever” is a pretty big word. It isn’t constricted to church services or worship leading or mission trips or Bible studies at a coffee shop. We don’t have to divide things into Christian or otherwise. It’s whatever. Anything. If we’re living in the reality of the Gospel, the Bible and the Holy Spirit will be showing us what doesn’t glorify God, and all the other things become fair game for glorifying Jesus. It’s words and deeds; not just one or the other. Every act and word of our lives can express our thanks to God. We do this through Jesus, whose blood paid to redeem every part of our lives for His glory. A.W. Tozer wrote about this in his book, The Pursuit of God:
“The sacred-secular antithesis has no foundation in the New Testament…The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is our perfect example, and He knew no divided life…By one act of consecration of our total selves to God we can make every subsequent act express that consecration.”

Let’s engage in every aspect of our lives, creatively and wholeheartedly, out of freedom and thankfulness and love to God.

4. Expression Is A Catalyst for Joy And Fellowship

“That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full” (I John 1:3-4).
Life is about fellowship. The Godhead enjoyed fellowship together, and then God created man to enjoy fellowship with Him as well. Jesus died to restore the fellowship, which our sins had broken, and by faith in Him, we also receive the Holy Spirit in our hearts, enabling communion with God and people. As people, we all see things a little differently. We all know God personally. And God saw fit to make us all into the Body of Christ (the Church). To put it plainly, we need each other’s perspective to know God most fully. When we share our lives and God’s goodness in plain sight of one another, we love God and one another more fully.

We don’t need to know it all to be able to express: We just need to open our mouths and share what we have seen and heard. Sometimes this will correct us when we’ve thought wrong; other times it will strengthen a weary soul in season (see Isaiah 50:4). …And more, there are many other Scriptures which encourage me to bravely share what God is teaching me in my life and to eagerly listen when others share from their perspective.
Life is exciting, and Jesus invited anyone with ears to hear. As we listen to the Word and live in light of the Gospel, we’ll find creative inspiration everywhere. And when we do, let’s fill our own creative outlets with grace and thanksgiving and joy — not with burdens, but with freshness and life. Let’s serve one another through the honest expression of our lives. We’ve been loved by Love Himself, the original Creator. I think He’s pretty pleased when we attempt to express like Him.