Did You See That?

Did You See That?

I was just watching my sheep with my brothers last night. It was cold, but the skies were clear. The Milky Way was so clearly visible and magnificent. The sheep were quiet and peacefully sleeping. It was just awesomely beautiful.

Have you ever seen an angel? I never had, up until last night. We were doing what we always do, when all of a sudden an angel appeared standing right in front of us and he was surrounded by a bright light. We didn’t see him walk up. He just appeared all of a sudden.

At first we were very scared. Even though the angel told us not to be afraid, it was too late. I had never been so scared in my life. I’ve encountered bears, lions and a few other wild critters, but what do you do when an angel shows up? Once we realized this was a messenger from God, we settled down, but my heart was still pounding fifteen minutes later.

Needless to say, he had our fullest attention! Hmm! Now that I think of it, the sheep weren’t bothered at all by the angel and all that was happening. They just watched peacefully and went back to sleep. That was amazing. No panic, just peaceful rest. A panic at night among the sheep would have been a major crisis. One can loose up to half their heard if the sheep panic and try to escape.

The angel told us some great news. The Messiah had been born in Bethlehem, less than half a mile away from where we were watching our sheep. Do you know what that meant to us? We have been looking for and expecting the Messiah for several years now. We knew about the prophecies in the writings and the signs appeared to be eminent.

But why would an angel come to us? We are just a bunch of shepherds on the outskirts of Bethlehem. We aren’t what you would consider “educated”. We are often smelly because of being with the sheep and the people in town don’t always like to be around us. But be it as it is, the angel told us about the baby that had been born. The Messiah was born in a stable. Imagine that! Here is the long-awaited King of the Jews, in the lineage of King David, a bonafied descendent of Abraham, not being born in a palace or even a home, but in a stinky dirty stable. (The mother and father later told us that the inns were full from everyone who was returning for the government census.)

Before the angel left, he was joined by a whole choir of angels who were singing praises to God. I have never heard such beautiful voices in my entire life. It was absolutely heavenly, and again, the sheep seemed to really enjoy it.

After the angels left, I told my brothers that I wanted to go see this baby. We all left the sheep behind and walked to town. We found the stable easily enough and, sure enough, there was a man and his wife and their brand new baby boy wrapped up in a cloth and lain in a manger. It was such a beautiful sight. The baby, whom they said will be named Jesus (God saves us) was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen and I’ve been around a while, as some of you can tell. I’ve seen a bunch of babies, but never one like this one.

Oh how I wish you could have been there with us. This child is going to somehow save us from our sins. I don’t understand all of that right now, but I believe it is the most wonderful news and most beautiful baby I have ever seen. I can’t wait for Him to grow up and free us from the guilt and shame of our sins. I wonder what His Kingdom is going to be like? I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

When you can, go see this child. He is the Savior of the whole world.

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