A Christmas Devotional Challenge by Dannette McKellar

“When
the
Son of Man
comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit on his glorious throne.
All the nations will be gathered before him,
and he will separate the people one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Matthew 25:31-33

Warm milk in a baby bottle is the ticket to popularity at Grant’s Farm, a St. Louis family attraction ... if you are brave enough to pass through the turnstile into the fenced area.  That’s where demanding baby goats crowd around you, stomp on your feet, tug at your clothing, and head butt your arms.  Pushing each other out of the way, they greedily clamor for the ultimate prize: sucking milk from your baby bottle.

That image appeared when I read Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats, and I wondered: Am I a sheep or a goat?  This time of year, crowds and holiday stress have a way of bringing out the goat in me.  It’s easy to become a goat when I’m in a hurry ... when I’m working my way through crowded stores trying to find everything on my list ... when I’m stuck in miserable traffic.  Unfortunately, being a goat means I’m focused on myself: what I need to do and where I need to be. 

My challenge this Christmas season is to be less like a goat so others can see Christ in me and in Christmas.  Will you take the challenge with me?

Submitted by Dannette McKellar