God reaches out in the darkness to meet you.
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
The announcement of Jesus birth was not the proper notification that we would expect for the arrival of such a distinguished individual. The shepherds wouldn't be at the top of the list of people to make such an important announcement to, but that is the way that our God does business, he uses the most unlikely cast of characters.
God reached out in the darkness that night to meet the lowly shepherds, the dirty social outcast received an announcement fit for a king. God is still reaching out to meet us in the dark, the dark days of depression, disappointment and doubt don't have to be long days when you have the light of the world to help you.
| John 1:9 The One who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. |
The shepherds receive the good news and right away they go with haste to find the child. They didn't say to each other "I wonder if this is really true, lets go and find out." They already believed and couldn't wait to get there, they went without delay to find their Savior and upon finding him they went out and told the good news, they became the first preachers of the gospel, they began spreading the good news by just sharing their experience with those that they met.
The great shepherd of Israel reached out to the shepherds, these were not the guys that received training in the Bible, they didn't get any classroom time at the prophets school and the Pharisees wouldn't waste their time teaching theology to dirty shepherds. They were just ordinary guys sharing about what they knew to be true. We can make being a missionary or a preacher such a difficult task that requires so much training but God chooses to work with the simple to share his simple message.
| Luke 18:42-43 And Jesus said, "All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you." 43 Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too. |
Just like a blind man that has received his sight, the Lord has brought light to our dark world, we should praise God for allowing his light to shine on all men without ant respect for certain people. We should be careful to be the light to everyone without any consideration for who the light will shine on.
Lord Jesus, you are amazing! Thank you for using stinky little people like me to do your work. Help me never to take you and your love for me for granted.
