Often Christmas stories focus mostly on the baby Jesus and characters like Mary, Joseph, the wise men, angels, etc. But we can also learn important lessons from the account of shepherds mentioned in Luke 2:8-20. They were among the lowest people in society - not held in high esteem. Even today in many parts of the world from India to Siliau village near Port Dickson, people employed to look after animals are usually looked down on in society as they are usually uneducated and live in very humble conditions. Let us consider what the shepherds did when they heard the good news for the first time.
The angels announced that the Messiah had been born and as soon as these angels had gone, the shepherds said to one another "Let us go NOW.." There was no debate, argument or procrastination. They didn't go to a seminary or the Internet to research this. They just believed it - that is faith. The Bible tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. God is pleased with those who respond to God's gift through faith. Faith means you accept all that God did through Christ - that He is the Saviour of the world - that He came to die for your sins - that you can only find forgiveness and a new life through Him - and that you must follow Jesus Christ as Lord. This is an active embracing of what God had promised in Christ to all mankind and is tied to our own obedience.
The shepherds did exactly as they were told. Often we think of Christmas as just another holiday, that it is about a sweet little baby Jesus asleep on some hay - a sweet safe image. But Christmas isn't safe! That baby is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He came to establish a kingdom that challenges the kingdom of self. This is threatening because He bids those who follow Him to take up their cross daily - to lay aside their right to rule themselves, and to surrender to His rule. The world loves to celebrate the birth of Christ, but they hate to obey Him as the Lord of their lives. Many people want to keep Christ as a cute little baby in a manager - but the manger is meaningless apart from the Cross. Jesus Christ was born to fulfill His Father's mission for Him to be Saviour of the world.
Someone might have said "This little baby, tender as any newborn, has come to crush Satan. The forces of hell will quake at His presence, though for now He lies quietly in a cold manger." The humble shepherds exemplified how the Saviour of the world would be to His people. Acts 17:25 says "He gives to all life, breath and all things" while Job 34:14-15 tells us that if God were to withdraw His breath from us, we would return to dust. In other words, every breath we breathe is a miracle.
Because we have heard the Christmas story so many times, we may forget the amazing miracle it really is. God came to earth in the form of a man. Let's pause a while to take time to absorb the wonder of the miracle. Luke 2:17 tells us that when the shepherds arrived in Bethlehem and saw the child lying in a manger, "they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child." They were not preachers or leaders but that did not matter, they had heard and seen something that meant salvation for the whole world. The angel had said to them that this is good news "of great joy which shall be for all people." Let's share this great joy by being as obedient as the humble shepherds.
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