What happened next might surprise some. It seems logical now, but let’s think about it from the shepherds point of view for just a minute.
Luke 2:15-16
So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
Now how many years have they been waiting for this Messiah, a loooooooong time? I bet they had discussions about whether it was really ever going to happen. Don’t you? Not only that, but don’t you think they wondered “why us”? Why did the angels come here, to us? Once again, I think so. You see the shepherds were not members of the country club, or on the Christmas card list of most of their day. I mean, come on, they lived with sheep. They smelled like sheep. I bet they, just like you and I, have had their days when they wondered if it was all worth it. Wondered if they mattered, or what they really meant to God?
I think they were the perfect ones to be the first to hear the news. Not because of who they were, but because of what they were, Faithful. Look at what they said, “Let us now go.” They didn’t ask any more questions of themselves or the angels. They Went! Not only did they go, but they went “with haste.”
I wish I could be more like the shepherds in my everyday Christmas. I wish I would always be ready to now go with haste. Don’t you?
God Bless!
As I read "Christmas 3 & 4", I realized that I have never thought of the birth of Christ quite in the ways you are leading us. It's such a beautiful way to look at this special night, and I'm never going to think of it in the same way again. Now it's a more loving, PERSONAL, way to think about Christmas. Thank you, Rick...I love you!
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