Saturday, December 27, 2014

Shepherds Heard the Message First

Shepherds Heard the Message First  
Luke 2:8-9, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.”
       Can you imagine what it was like for the shepherds to be startled by an angel surrounded with the glory of the Lord shining all around the camp site?  We sometimes chuckle when children and willing adults present a Christmas pageant at our local church.  They all look startled when the angel, dressed in a white sheet, appears suddenly—if and when the designated deacon remembers to turn on the spotlight.
       It may be a bit amusing to us, but I assure you it wasn’t to those shepherds that night when they were visited by an angel.  Think of it—they saw the glory of the Lord.  Then the Bible account states that “suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God…”  I believe that I would have fainted dead away at the sight of the first angel let alone a whole bunch of them is bright shining light.
       Wow, those humble shepherds were blessed and honored by being the ones who received direct notification of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. God didn’t send His angel to the “big boys’ down at the synagogue, bit instead He chose men that were not important to most people.   If you, like me, are a “nobody” in this world, take time right now to praise God that He cares about “little people”!  Someone has said that common people must be special to God since He made so many of us.

No comments:

Post a Comment