“Then the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child” (Luke 2:17)

For many of us, this story has been told every year for our whole lives; for some, it may still be new and fresh. Wherever we are, let’s take a minute and look at it in a new way.

Imagine, for a moment, you are a shepherd. You’ve been a shepherd for your entire life. Every single day of your life, you are out in the field with sheep. There is very little social interaction with anyone, outside of other shepherds you may encounter. You do the same thing all day, EVERY DAY. You are not used to any excitement happening, and you have become used to that.

Then, one day, the sky lights up and angels start talking to you. You think to yourself how strange it all is, and how you may be dreaming, or may have been out in the sun too long. But then you take a look at where the angel told you to go, and sure enough, you find a child. You remember what the angel said to you, that this is the Son of God in human form, and you do your best to try to understand what that even means. Even though your mind can’t completely comprehend the situation, you are blown away by the fact that your life had just been changed. You know this child is someone special, and that you have seen something that not just anyone will have the privilege to see.

You leave the manger scene, and you can’t keep it inside. You go tell people, despite doubts that they will believe you…After all, you are a shepherd, not someone with any credibility or authority. They will probably think that the message is altogether crazy, then realize that you are a shepherd, and that you must be crazy.

But you tell them anyway. Because the message has changed your life that much.

Few of us will have the opportunity to see angels in our lifetimes. We all, though, have had an opportunity to encounter the Son of God. He is real, and He has changed many of your lives already.

So if you have had an encounter with the Son of God, what do you do about it? Do you think to yourself, “Well, they’ll probably think I’m crazy, so I just won’t say anything”? Or do you forget about all that, and count on the fact that God is in the business of changing lives?

We have been talking the last few weeks about gifts, and how we can use our gifts for the Kingdom. If any of you have encountered Christ, you cannot keep that to yourself. There are people in our lives who need to hear the good news. There are people who are lonely, hurting, depressed, insecure, who need someone to show them that God came to live among us, so that He might save us from ourselves.

Consider the following questions:

What would it have been like for you, if you had been one of those shepherds that day?

How has your life been changed with your own encounters with God?

Do you know someone who needs to encounter God in this way? What can you do to reach them?