Shepherds’ Life Response
“They returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen.”
Luke 2:20a
Now we turn from all these enemies, the stranger, the thief, the hireling and the wolf, who endanger those who follow afar off, and look at the Good Shepherd and the sheep who stay in His care. They are “His own,” not by force, but because He has paid the price of His life for them, and none shall pluck them out of His Hand. (The Way of the Sevenfold Secret)
Scripture: Luke 2:17-20
- What was the shepherds’ response upon seeing the child?
- What was their response to this experience upon return home?
- What was the essence of their testimony concerning the Child?
Meditation on Scripture
Once again, we observe the shepherds’ spontaneous response. Having seen Him they 1) “spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child” and 2) they “returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen.” In two words, their life response was to witness and to worship.
It is the most natural thing in the world to rave about any product, person, or experience that has especially satisfied or thrilled us. Indeed it is, likewise, the most natural thing to fall down and worship that which transcends the common, ordinary and earthbound. Why the do we balk at both? Witness. Worship.
One bit of stark reality filters through the glory of the Biblical narrative: “The shepherds returned…” Imagine, going back again to the hillside, dark lonely nights, the baaing and straying of simple lowly sheep. Yes, they returned from the magnificent to the mundane – but with a difference. They were changed. Long after the shimmer of angel wings had vanished and the touch of soft, warm baby skin was but a memory – the shimmer and warmth remained, but in their hearts demanding a response: get up and spread the word; bow down and worship.
The shepherds sing;
and shall I silent be:
My God, no hymn for Thee?
-George Herbert
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
To see the entire downloadable Advent Devotional, click on the link below: