I was once asked this question, “If you had been there in Bethlehem,  would you have known the Christ child when you saw Him?”

Consider this story of the watcher.

I watch there in the stable yard and see not far away,

a gentle mother kiss her child and place Him on the hay.

I see the father touch her face.  I see his look of pride

in the woman's strength and tenderness, 

his wife, his love, his bride.

I see the love shine in his eyes, for the baby lying there, 

his face, a mask of wonder, as he touches silky hair.

And I wonder at that young man’s smile, 

and I wonder 

what God had planned, 

for the little family staying there –

the child,

the woman, 

the man. 

But, I wander down the road again.  A hillside comes in view, 

I see shepherds, watching quiet sheep.  I’m the watcher,  watching too.

Then as I stand there at the scene, 

the heavens burst with light.

Mighty beings with wings of gold 

illuminate the night.

And the chieftain of this angel band roars out across the skies,

“Fear not!” he says, “Be not afraid!” 

Trembling, I close my eyes.

“Behold I bring glad tidings! 

Behold the time has come!  

For unto you is born this night, your Savior, 

God’s own Son.”

And then he spoke about the child and where He could be found 

 in a stable back in Bethlehem - 

and then

I looked 

down 

at 

the 

ground.

‘Cause then I knew the answer to the 

question asked of me.  

For I had been a watcher at his birth, 

and didn’t see.

As we celebrate this Christmas - as we gather round the tree, may we never be the watcher who looks, but doesn’t see. 

Consider the watcher – looking around, walking the road, observant?   We’re all watchers at times.  We walk through our lives watching the world around us.  But do we actually see?  Do we look beneath the “scene” and see what is really there?

In the poem, the watcher saw Jesus and Mary and Joseph, but she didn’t really see.  It wasn’t until the angels pointed out what was happening in Bethlehem that her eyes were opened.

Let's look for God’s hand in the events, the “scenes”, of our lives.  Let's look into the faces of the people that we meet.  God expects us to be his hands to his people.  We cannot help if we do not see the need.

If we look beneath the surface of the Christmas story; we'll see there the mighty love of God.  Look for Him, and you will find Him.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.”  (Hebrews 12:2)