<h2><SPAN name="THE_FIRST_MONTH" id="THE_FIRST_MONTH" /><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></SPAN>[106]</span>THE FIRST MONTH</h2>
<p>What month is this? December. It is the first month in the year. "No,
no," you say, "December is the last month." I cannot entirely agree with
you. December is last on the calendar but first in importance. Now you
agree with me, do you not?</p>
<p>How many days has December? One day. "No, no," I again hear you say,
"December has thirty-one days." I think we can reach an agreement on
this point too. There is one day in December of unexcelled importance
and loveliness; that day is the twenty-fifth. Yes, we all say there is
but one day in December. How readily we agree when we understand one
another!</p>
<p>What is the twenty-fifth? It is the pivotal day in the history of the
world. It is the day upon which the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords
was born. Jesus, son of man and son of God, came into the world as we
all come, as a tiny babe. It brings him much nearer to us, does it not,
to think that our Saviour was <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></SPAN>[107]</span>once as we are? He grew up as a child, a
boy, a youth, a man. It is the birthday of Christ the Saviour we
celebrate on the twenty-fifth of each December.</p>
<p>To whom did Jesus come? He came to a lowly people. He was revealed first
of all to the shepherds. The shepherd's task was not an enviable one. He
was out in the open, subject to storms and winds and wild beasts. His
business was to shepherd the sheep, to lead them to good pasture, to
protect them from all harm and danger. The shepherd's task was lonely as
well as lowly. His days and nights were passed in solitude. Occasionally
a group of shepherds would come together, but for the most part they
were alone with their flocks. God chose these people, whose minds were
clear, whose lives were pure, to be the first messengers of the glad
tidings of great joy.</p>
<p>MEMORY VERSE, <i>Luke</i> 2: 8</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the
field, keeping watch over their flocks by night."</p>
</div>
<p>MEMORY HYMN [115]</p>
<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span><i>"While shepherds watched their flocks."</i><br/></span></div>
</div>
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