December
18

“And They Came with Haste”

And it came to pass, that after the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the men, the shepherds, said one to another, Let us now go even to Bethlehem, and see this saying that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. And they came in haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe laid in the manger. And when they had seen, they made known abroad the saying which was spoken to them concerning this little Child. And all who heard marveled at those things which were spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all things which they had heard and seen, as it was spoken to them. (Luke 2:15‒20)

The shepherds who made known the birth of the Lord … were able to receive and believe, and, from the good of faith, to make it known. (Spiritual Experiences 4734m)

Life from the Lord flows in solely into a humble and submissive heart, because such a heart has been fitted to receive. That such is the case is because when the heart is truly humble, nothing of the love of self and of the love of the world stands in the way. (Arcana Coelestia 8873)

When man acknowledges in heart that there is nothing of good in himself, and that he can do nothing of himself, and on the other hand, that all good is from the Lord, and that the Lord can do all things. When man is in this acknowledgment he puts aside what is his proprium, which belongs to the love of self, and opens all things of his mind, and thus gives room for the Divine to flow in with good and with power. This is why it is necessary for man to be in humiliation before the Lord, and why humiliation can be from no other source than self‐acknowledgment and acknowledgment of the Lord, according to which reception is effected. (Apocalypse Explained 1210.1)

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