Reflections on Christmas; Daily Devotional #3 - “Shepherds in the Fields”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. (Luke 2:8-20, NLT)
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): I LOVE the Christmas story. Every piece is filled with wonder, majesty, amazement, and the miraculous. This story, for example, is absolutely amazing! Can you imagine being one of these shepherds lying lazily in the grass, and suddenly an angel appears before you? I bet these guys almost passed out! And, if one angel were not enough, the sky was suddenly filled with the “armies of heaven, praising God”. Meditate on that vision for a moment. It must have been spectacular! It’s difficult for me to wrap my little human brain around such an image. I wonder how the song sounded and how long this stunning display lasted. Wouldn’t you love to have been a fly on a shepherd’s staff that night? I’m willing to bet that this show of majesty and worship puts to shame every “grand finale” of every fireworks display I have ever seen! But why did God proclaim the birth of His Son to shepherds? Why not to the king or to the temple rulers? I guess it just goes to show us, yet again, that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts not our thoughts. But aren’t you glad that the God who put on this fabulous heavenly display is your Daddy? I also wonder if the shepherds were confused by the statement: “The Savior, Christ the Lord, lying, wrapped in cloth, lying in a manger.” Personally I might have questioned such a statement. It’s almost an oxymoron. Why would the Son of God be lying, wrapped in cloth in a feeding trough? Shouldn’t He be attended by angels, or at least robed in God’s finest? Why a barn, and didn’t Mary have at least enough time to pack His “hospital outfit” in the saddle bags before leaving for Bethlehem? Ah, the questions we will ask when we finally make it Home. But until then, we must realize that God will do things in His way and in His own time. And just about the time we think we have Him figured out, He changes direction and does something entirely different from what we imagined, which makes this Christian walk so exciting. Because you just never know what He’s up to, and you can’t wait to see what He does next! Besides, if He was this diligent about the details of His First Born’s birth, then just imagine how fussy He is over you!
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): Another question I would like to ask is how did the shepherds know which barn Jesus was in? The only information they had was that He was in a manger in Bethlehem. Since there was no star to lead them, and they couldn’t log into mapquest.com, or run into Best Buy to quickly purchase a GPS, how did they ever discover the right location? I mean, think about it; the reason Mary and Joseph were in the barn in the first place is because there was no room in the inn. Bethlehem was overflowing with people, and there must have been hundreds of barns across the city to accommodate all the animals. I suppose they found Him the exact same way we did; through the faithful leading of the Holy Spirit! Aren’t you glad that the Holy Spirit led you to the Christ of God? And that even though you had very little information to go on, He was still faithful to lead you to the right place, at just the right time, so that Jesus Christ could become the Lord of your life. The angels were right, this really is Good News!
Cultivating (Additional Reading): John 10:11
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All Bible references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.
New Living Translation = NLT.