Let's Go

 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.”  Luke 2:15

It's Christmas Eve, and I don't have anything earth-shaking to write today, but I do have a few things on my heart. I'll try to put what it is into words.

I've always loved the role of the shepherds in the Christmas story. Shepherds were outcasts in Jewish culture, yet it was to them that God chose to reveal the birth of His Son. They, simple, likely rough men, were the first to hear the angelic proclamation.

I can only imagine what the experience must have been like. A heavenly host proclaiming in what had to be the most beautiful singing and praising they, or anyone would ever heart. They had to have been both awestruck and dumbstruck. Then, the message delivered, the angelic host disappeared.

The shepherds didn't spend time discussing what had happened. They said as one, "Let's go and see this great thing that we have been told about." And so they did. They were not going to miss the wondrous event. An event a fallen world was groaning to see come about. Nothing would stop them. They would see this child that God had told them about.

The shepherds had likely been very involved in the business of keeping their sheep. Watching over sheep is not an easy job. Who could blame them if they were distracted, weary, emotionally on edge. Yet none of that mattered. They had to see the promised Messiah. They wouldn't be kept from Him.

Bring all that to our lives on this day. Christmas can be a very distracting, wearying, emotionally draining time. We can see everything and yet see nothing. We can see all the trappings, but we don't see Him. The glitter, the tinsel, the gifts, the families, the food. All of it can overwhelm, and all of it, no matter how good, can keep us from Him. How might it be keeping you, and me, from Him?

I close by saying, may it be that in the midst of this season, we don't lose sight of Him. May it be that in each of us will be a driving determination to "see" Him, to worship Him. To just dwell in His presence. Fathers and husbands, mothers and wives, heads of families and heads of ministries, may our heart cry be like that of the shepherds. "Let us go to see this Savior, this Jesus. May nothing keep us from Him. May He not be lost amidst the glittering tinsel. May we come before Him, kneel before Him, and worship Him. Let's go. Let us not delay.

Blessings,
Pastor O