None of this happened at Jesus’ birth.
However, there was one small group who heard the news: Shepherds.
They were field hands--guys who handled the livestock. They slept outside, stayed dirty, and smelled like the animals they cared for.
They were not important people at all.
But their profession had a royal legacy. David, the greatest King of Israel, was once a shepherd picked by God from the pastures to lead the nation. This king later wrote one of our greatest psalms, describing God as a shepherd.
So it makes a kind of sense that shepherds were the only ones who were told about the arrival of the Christ. It was their eyes that beheld a mighty angel and their ears that heard him announce that the Messiah was born. Their eyes alone saw the night sky explode in white celebration as the angels sang their praises to the newborn king.
It was the shepherds who first found their way to the baby lying in a feed box. They were the first to worship the newborn king who would one day be called The Good Shepherd.
What message does that have for us today, in our power driven, materialistic world, I wonder? It seems sometimes like we have developed fantastic machines and incredible technologies, but spiritually speaking - we have grown very little....
ReplyDeleteI wonder why we have not been able to take that message of the humblest among us, the meekest of society being the beneficiary of spiritual riches?
I don't remember it in my day to day life - I have to reflect to bring it to bear on my actions - but it is with ease that I react thinking of myself....
I was reading something the other day that said we try to gather power while we need to develop quiet inner strength. Most of us have a hard time remembering that.
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