I can’t say that I’ve ever thought of my feet as beautiful.

And I don’t imagine the Bethlehem shepherds had ever thought of their feet as beautiful either. Dusty feet? Probably. Sore feet? Definitely. Smelly feet? Absolutely. But beautiful?

Yet by the end of that first Christmas night, an amazing transformation had taken place. God saw their feet as beautiful. This is how…

(Much of the following is on Day 15 of When Will It Be Christmas? 25 Stories and Family Activities for Advent)

THE “BUBBLES AND BEAUTIFUL FEET” SET UP

Run a bathtub of bubbles and while you’re doing that

ask your kids how many different kinds of feet they can think of? (pale feet, wrinkly feet, left feet, right feet, etc.)

Have them follow your lead and dip their feet in the water.

[dip feet into bubbles and pull them out] – sudsy, bubbly feet.

[dip feet all the way in the water and splash your feet around] – wet feet, splashing feet

[pull feet out] – dripping feet

[dry feet with a towel] – Dry feet, clean feet, fresh-smelling feet

Then say: One of my favorite Christmas stories is how the shepherds got beautiful feet.

THE BEAUTIFUL FEET STORY

All day long shepherds with sandals hiked up mountains, down mountains, through dusty fields and along rivers, finding the best places for their sheep to eat clumps of juicy grass or water for their sheep to drink.

Then Ask: If you were a shepherd and took care of sheep all day long out in the fields, what kind of feet do you think you’d have?

Shepherds might have stinky feet, maybe even sore feet, tired feet, definitely not beautiful feet.

One night shepherds were outside watching over their sheep at night. It had been a really looong day. They were hungry. They were tired. The sun started to set and the stars twinkled in the sky. It was late and they just wanted to go to sleep when…

An angel of the Lord appeared to them…(Read Luke 2:9-12)

Then hundreds of shining angels spread across the sky, praising God, telling God how awesome He is. “Glory to God,” they said. Then the shining angels disappeared as quickly as they came.

“Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has

happened, which God has told us about.”

They hurried off and found baby Jesus, the Savior, lying in a manger.

The shepherds were so excited that had to tell everyone the good news.

They used their feet to race home and told their families the good news.

They used their feet to run to Bethlehem and tell their friends and neighbors the good news.

Everywhere their feet carried them the shepherds told family and friends about Jesus the Savior.

THE BEAUTIFUL FEET VERSE

Isaiah 52:7 says,

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace

So when the shepherds spread the Good News about Jesus, the Savior being born, God looked at them and said, “You’re using your feet to spread the Good News and that makes your feet beautiful to me.”

APPLICATION

if you tell the good news that Jesus, the Savior, was born, God sees your feet as beautiful too.

You can use your feet to skip to your cousin’s house and tell your cousin the Good news.

You can use your feet to race around the gym and tell your teacher about the Good news.

You can use your feet to walk down the halls at schools and tell your friends about the Good News

You can use your feet to travel anywhere and tell aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas, neighbors and friends, “Guess what? Jesus, the Savior, was born on Christmas.”

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation. Isaiah 52:7