Daily Archive

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:20

What a night that must have been for this group of shepherds. They went from what was going to be an uneventful night in the fields to an encounter with angels; from looking over a bunch of sheep to gawking at an infant with divine implications; from being virtually unknown to being the talk of the town.

We don’t know how long they were gone. But from the story in Luke we can surmise at least three things. First of all, they hung around long enough for everyone to hear their story. We are told that everyone was amazed at what this group of men told them about the babe in the manger. Once you have an encounter with God you can’t keep quiet.

You may have experienced this. A friend, or family member finds Jesus and is delivered from a life of addiction, fear, worry or whatever. Then they find Jesus and all they ever talk about is Jesus. Every conversation is an opportunity to tell about what they are learning from Jesus. You may even be amazed at how they can turn every life experience into at God-experience. Once you have a true encounter with the Messiah you can’t keep quiet.

The second thing we can see is that they went back to what they were doing. To the best of our knowledge none of them wrote a book and went on a speaking circuit. None of them formed first church of the hillside to focus on the very spot where the angels appeared. They went back into the hills to do what they did best…shepherd sheep. Sometimes God calls us to move on from what we are doing to do something new, something exciting, something noteworthy. And sometimes he calls us to go back to the hills and shepherd sheep.

The third thing I see is that they went back changed. On the outside they were still a bunch of men guarding and guiding sheep. On the inside they were worshippers of the almighty God. On the outside they called out to the sheep to move on to a new field. On the inside they were praising God for Messiah.

I’d love to have sat around the campfires of those men in the future. I’m guessing the conversation no longer centered around the woes and evils of the Roman Empire. I’m guessing they spend more time in prayer and remembering the words of the prophets than they did gossiping about the latest news from town. When you meet the Messiah you live life changed.

May you have a fresh encounter with Messiah this Christmas. Whether you’ve been walking with him for years or are new to the family advent is a time to refresh our love for him.