Many years ago some shepherds near Bethlehem were watching their sheep one night when angels appeared to tell them the good news that their Savior, Christ the Lord had been born. After the angels went back into heaven, the shepherds:

1. Left their sheep and went quickly to see the baby
2. Repeated what they had been told about him to those they met
3. Glorified and praised God for all they had seen and heard.

Most of us know the story of Luke 2 about the Savior King, Who was born in a manger that night. For years, we’ve known and celebrated the story of His humble birth. We’ve featured  the lowly shepherds in our church productions as the first to visit the newborn king.

Every time I hear it, it fills me with wonder. But there is more to the story than wonder and more than is presented in most pageants.

If we’ve celebrated that birth every year, we know that the king didn’t come to save the Jews from oppressive Roman rule. He came to save all mankind—from all times. He took the sin of the world upon Himself, so that all who believe in Him can have eternal life.

Since we know the rest of the story, we know we have much more to glorify and praise God about than the shepherds ever imagined. We celebrate His birth because we celebrate His resurrection.

We also have more to tell to those we meet than the shepherds did. Much more, because, unlike the shepherds, we know that the good news applies to anybody and everybody—if they will believe and claim Jesus as Lord.

But, in the midst of the busyness of the season, it’s easy to forget those things that we know. Some days, the hardest thing for us may be for us to follow the example of the shepherds: to leave the sheep—to drop the to-do list long enough to go see the baby that lay in the manger–so we can sit with the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Since we know the rest of the story, I pray that what we know will lead us to respond as the shepherds did.

Lord, help us to (1) make time in our schedule to worship and bow down to Jesus, (2) to glorify and praise You, and (3) to share the good news with others.