Daily devotional, Dec 14, 2023 Break a leg
"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." Zephaniah 3:17
One of the mainstay events during Christmas season for us mothers is attending Christmas Programs. Witnessing performance upon performance year after year, giving full support, cheering our children on as they sing, dance and act away.
Those that perform on stage for a living are usually told to “break a leg” before they finally play their part. Etymologists trace this idiomatic expression from several possible roots which include:
– German and American World War II pilots wishing each other a successful mission by saying “break your legs and neck” before their flight.
– Superstitious horse-racing aficionados who would not want to wish their bets luck for fear that it would ruin its performance. Hence, they tell the horse racer that they hope their horse will break a leg.
– Ancient Greek audience’s way of expressing applause is by banging together the legs of the chair, hence the idiom.
Anyhow, allow me to share one more meaningful story about broken legs that you may have heard in your church.
It is about a Syrian Shepherd who goes about his workday carrying a lamb on his neck. When someone asked him why he was doing that, he said that he purposely broke the leg of the lamb because it is naughty, and it kept on running away. He said that since the lamb is injured it will not wander off and will depend on him for its survival. Once it gets better, the injured sheep will also just be near him because he has grown so close to him and accustomed to his presence.
Now whether this story is true or not, is beside the point. The bottom line here is that shepherds indeed do their best to keep their sheep well nourished and protected, even if it allows difficulties in the sheep’s life from time to time. Here’s a passage from the Parable of the lost sheep:
"What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?"
Matthew 18:12
When we know how important we are to our Lord and Savior, we will realize that whatever we may have done in the past does not matter anymore. That He died for our sins, offers us His forgiveness, and all we have to do is accept Him as our Lord and personal Savior.
"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
Like the lamb in the story of the Syrian Shepherd, let us relish the presence of our shepherd instead of licking our wounds. Our “wounds” or the hardships that God allowed us to experience all serve a purpose in building our character.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4
Instead of straying further, we should look at hardships in a positive light. That these challenges are just part of the journey, and not the destination itself. Our Savior died on the cross to ensure that we can get past our darkest valleys, so we could live life to the fullest while on earth, and cross over to Eternal life with Him.
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on James 1:2-8 and Matthew 8:10-14 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: Has the shepherd broken your leg too? How are you responding to it?
Conversation with the Lord: Lord Jesus Christ, you are my good shepherd. Please do not let me wander away from you, and keep me focused on the positive side of the challenges and difficulties I am facing. Please keep me near you as I would never want to live away from your presence. Amen.