Lonely Cottage

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  “Among the few features of agricultural England which retain an appearance but little modified by the lapse of centuries, may be reckoned the high, grassy and furzy downs, coombs, or ewe-leases, as they are indifferently called, that fill a large area of certain counties in the south and south-west. If any mark of human occupation is met with hereon, it usually takes the form of the solitary cottage of some shepherd. Fifty years ago such a lonely cottage stood on such a down, and may possibly be standing there now. In spite of its loneliness, however, the spot, by actual measurement, was not more than five miles from a county-town. Yet that affected it little. Five miles of irregular upland, during the long inimical seasons, with their sleets, snows, rains, and mists, afford withdrawing space enough to isolate a Timon or a Nebuchadnezzar; much less, in fair weather, to please that less repellent tribe, the poets, philosophers, artists, and others who “conceive and meditate of ple...

The Christmas Journey of Worship

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Bible teacher Woodrow Kroll writes this provoking thought: “If the star of Bethlehem first appeared on the night Jesus was born, then two groups started a journey toward worship that evening. The shepherds didn’t have far to go. They could probably see the dim lamplights of the little town from the hillside where they were tending their flocks. Meanwhile, in a distant land, wise men marveled and began preparations for an important journey. It may have taken them as long as two years of travel to reach Bethlehem.”
As you ponder the things of Christmas in your heart, take a moment to reflect where you are now in your journey with Christ:

  • Was it a short trip (perhaps you came to Him when you were young), or were you a long time in coming (perhaps you repented later in life)?
  • What it was that drew your attention to The Savior?
  • Who or what was it that pointed the way? How did you find out about Jesus?
  • Are you drawing even nearer to Him in your everyday walk?
  • Why do you worship Him? 
  • How will your Christmas worship be different this year?

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