When the birth of a king is announced the proclamation is not read to the lowly and meek. The announcement is made to the noble and elite. But when God announced the birth of His Son to the earth He picked the uneducated, lowly, smelly, social outcasts called shepherds. The only invitation to the birth of the Christ Child recorded in Scripture is the invitation of the angels to shepherds, “And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger,” Luke 2:12 NKJV. According to Jewish religious law, the shepherds were seen as unclean. This prevented them from participating in the feasts and holy days. The testimony of a shepherd was not allowed in a Jewish court of law. They smelled like sheep. They were constantly on the move looking for good grazing land. This caused them to be nomadic and always under suspicion. If anything was missing the shepherds were the first to be questioned. As the Scripture says they were,”…living out in the fields,” Luke 2:8 NKJV. The shepherds spend so much time with the sheep that the sheep knew the individual voice of the shepherd and the shepherd knew each sheep by name. Using this characteristic as a sign of intimacy with those that He cares for Jesus uses the picture of the shepherd when He says, “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own,” John 10:14 NKJV. The shepherds entered Bethlehem late at night, unnoticed and unannounced to see the greatest gift God could give – the gift of a King! Jesus Christ is the One that is the “King of kings and the Lord of lords,” Revelation 19:16. I thank God for this great picture of His love for His creation. When we were counted as unworthy – He made us worthy. He invites us to quit sneaking around and “…come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” Hebrews 4:16 NKJV. Let’s visit Him today! youtu.be/DKk9rv2hUfA
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 14:25:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015