Welcome to this Christmas edition of the Our Daily Bread Devotional.

Our reading titled Welcome Baby Jesus was written by Lisa M. Samra.

It felt like we'd been waiting forever for news that our pregnant neighbor had welcomed her first baby.

When assigned declaring, it's a girl, finally appeared on their front lawn,

we celebrated the birth of their daughter and texted friends who might not have seen the outdoor display.

There's great excitement awaiting the arrival of a baby. Before Jesus's birth, the Jewish

people hadn't just been waiting a few months. They'd longed for the birth of the Messiah,

Israel's expected rescuer, for generations. I imagine that over the years, faithful Jews wondered if during their lifetime they would see the

fulfillment of this promise. One night, the long-anticipated news was displayed in the heavens

when an angel appeared to shepherds in Bethlehem, announcing that the Messiah had finally been born.

In Luke chapter 2, he told them,

This will be a sign to you.

You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

After the shepherds saw Jesus, they praised God and spread the word about the baby.

God wanted the shepherds to know that the long-awaited baby had arrived so they could tell others about Jesus' birth.

We still celebrate his birth because his life provides rescue from the brokenness of the world

to anyone who believes.

We no longer have to wait to know peace and experience joy, which is good news worth announcing.

Today's Our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Luke chapter 2 verses 8 through 20.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they

were terrified.

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