Luke 2:20
“Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”
Have you ever been away from city lights on a clear, cool, and crisp night? You suddenly see stars that you never knew existed. The heavens seem to be alive with stars shining forth in varying degrees of brightness. Some of them even seem to be of different colors. If you consistently live and work in this environment for a while, you may lose your sense of awe.
The shepherds must have fallen into that latter category on the night they were watching their sheep. They may have been sharing a bit of cheese and bread during their night vigil of protecting their sheep. But suddenly things changed!
The heavens seemed to split wide open as an angel of the Lord appeared and delivered the most wonderful message that could ever be heard — “MESSIAH HAD COME!!” After the announcement, the heavens split open with a huge angelic contingent praising God and giving glory! Immediately the shepherds left their sheep to seek the Shepherd of mankind.
These simple shepherds became the first evangelists proclaiming that they had seen the prophesied Messiah! I can almost share their excitement as they happily told friends and family about what they had seen and heard. It reminds me that when we see Jesus for ourselves, we need to get excited and share the news!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil