December 18 - The Shepherds Meet the Savior

December 18 - The Shepherds meet the Savior - Luke 2:15-20

If a bunch of angels showed up and I had one of them tell me to do something, I'm pretty sure that I would have called everyone around me and talked about it for a long time before actually doing what I was told to do. I would have been completely stupified and so shook up that I probably would have immobilized myself.

But these shepherds simply said, "Let's go! The Lord told us about it and we should go see it!" (Luke 2:15)

Then, they hurried off (Luke 2:16). They hurried.

Now, we don't know what time of night this happened, but we can be certain that the shepherds didn't waste any time. They probably traveled, in the darkness to Bethlehem. While they knew the town quite well, they would have had no idea what the location of the actual birthplace was. It didn't occur to them to ask the angel for an address. They found the young family with no problem, though.

Imagine the difficulty of these shepherds as they realized they had to leave the manger and return to their lives. When we were at the Grand Canyon, there were points in time that I didn't want to leave. I was so wrapped up in the grandeur of the experience, I just wanted to continue gazing at the vista so as to absorb all of it that I could. I can barely translate that into gazing at the face of the Savior. Especially after seeing the glory of the angels!

After they saw him, they left and told everyone what they had seen. Before Jesus appears on the scene 30 years later, the people surrounding Bethlehem knew that the Savior had been born in their midst.

The shepherds returned to their normal lives. But, they didn't settle down, they returned praising and glorifying God.

An infant child changed the lives of simple shepherds in one night. Because of this experience, they told everyone they saw and then praised God. This Savior of the World has changed our lives. Tell everyone you know! Glorify and praise the God of Creation!