The Power of the FIRST Messengers...THE SHEPHERDS

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Like every month of December the account of the story of Jesus coming into this world is revisited over and over again. When the other eleven months come around it is never heard from or mentioned again. It has been grossly tied to crass commercialized greed and sadly connected to it. But the powerful, miraculous story stands the test of time. I was reading the 2nd chapter of Luke, and read the part after Mary gave birth to Jesus. How there were shepherds in the field keeping watch over the flock 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."

I thought about how the heavens and the glory of God could have shone upon other people groups that night. Instead He chose those men not only to see the open heavens, and to hear the spectacular birth announcement. But the greatest thing was they were the first eyewitnesses of all mankind to see their beautiful Redeemer, and Savior of the world. My mind pictured those simple men sitting out in the open field, tired, dirty and unassuming. They were the poorest of the poor, the lowest of the low of citizenry, the underpaid and overworked. They were looked upon with disgust and disdain.

Yet I see a deeper message and insight. They represented the very people Jesus was sent first to preach the gospel to. As the Lord spoke in the temple in Luke 4:18, " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised."

Perhaps, this described the very lives of these men, which is why they were chosen. And it seems to me that these men will ever represent not only to whom the gospel is first preached, but the kind of people who will powerfully go forth preaching it to the end of time. We are to emulate their first faith like little children, yet mighty men, and to go forth preaching the same message with that same intense conviction and joy. Never forget those shepherd men as long as you live and not just in the month of December, and ever seek to join their ranks. I love what an old saint said from the 15th century. "Wherever you find a small group of poor Christians,....join them!"

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