Daily devotion – the shepherds showing us the way at Christmas!
Luk 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Luk 2:15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.”
It’s just 6 days until Christmas and we the Church of Jesus Christ gather collectively world-wide to praise and proclaim the wonder of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem – the Saviour of the Word, He who was born King!
Each of us at this time can take stock of the wonder of Christmas in our own lives and then share the joy we have with others!
The shepherds who were the first to be told of the wondrous event happening in a stable just a short distance away followed up with having front row seats at the greatest angel concert the world has witnessed and gives us the model of what we are to be like and what we are to do with the wonder of the Christmas message.
As soon as the angels left the ‘concert in the fields’ they each took off at ‘great haste’ into Bethlehem to find Jesus their Messiah!
Luk 2:16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
Luk 2:17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
Luk 2:18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
Notice what they did straight after being with Jesus and seeing the Messiah laying in a manger? Luke tells us they went about everywhere telling everyone they met what the angels had told them who this child born in a manger was – the Son of God, the King of kings, the Lord Himself – the one they had seen themselves!
Christmas is the time God opens a massive door for us that no man can close and gives us the perfect opportunity to be just like those simple shepherds who were the ‘first evangelists’ proclaiming the Good News of Christ’s coming.
My prayer for each of you is that you will sense God’s prodding, His pushing but also within you like Jeremiah the prophet the Holy Spirit filling you with the joy of the Lord so much that you will burst if you don’t tell someone of He who was born in Bethlehem.
In every nativity scene or play at Christmas there are always kids dressed as shepherds.
This Christmas God is not asking you to dress as a shepherd but He is urging you to be as joyful as those very shepherds that first Christmas Eve – and to emulate their joy and vigour – go tell someone who the Child born in a manger in Bethlehem is!