“The Gift of a King”

shepherds story
 
 
by Dona Hake
 
 
 
I love pondering what it must of been like being a shepherd watching over my sheep, and in the dark of  the night an angel of the Lord appears out of nowhere to announce the birth of Jesus.  I can only imagine what they felt, their excitement, amazement, and anticipation!    Let us read from the scriptures about that glorious night.
 
 
 
 
Luke 2:8-18 Amplified
 

“In the same region there were shepherds staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone around them, and they were terribly frightened.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.
For this day in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord the Messiah.
And this will be a sign for you by which you will recognize Him: you will find a Baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
Then suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host angelic army praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,And on earth peace among men with whom He is well-pleased.”
When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying one to another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem, and see this wonderful thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”
So they went in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the Baby as He lay in the manger.
And when they had seen this, they made known what had been told them about this Child,
and all who heard it were astounded and wondered at what the shepherds told them.”
 
 
 
 
The shepherds had an immediate and decisive response…”Let us go,  and see this wonderful thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us!”   
I can assure you that there was no doubt among them, and they began to seek that which they were told, and they did it immediately with great anticipation!   I love how the scriptures say that they went in a hurry too.   Wouldn’t you have gone in a hurry?    If you were there among the shepherds, and saw this glorious angel of the Lord that just declared the birth of the Savior…would you move quickly to seek Him out?    I know I would have!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Today we celebrate the birth of our King Jesus, and for those of us that love Him, we truly understand how this changed a very dark world. Even though we were not there on that dark evening among the shepherds to see the Angel of the Lord hear of the proclamation of His birth, we have been given His life, and a hope for our future.    Oh how wonderful it is that we can seek God Himself   each day with the promise of new mercies, hope, provision, and light for our path!    How blessed we are to be able  to experience  knowing that in the midst of a dark world, we serve the One that brings His Light to us each and everyday!    He brings us the knowledge of His will,  His Light guides us into all truth, and now we are the carriers of this glorious Light.    We are His vessels in which He desires to shine everyday.
 
 
 
 
 
Will you be that Light to the one that needs to see hope?    Will you be the vessel in which His words of wisdom can flow when He calls upon you to speak?   I encourage you today as you think about the the gift of the King that God sent to also think about how He desires to use us for the greater works in these latter days!   God bless you, and Merry Christmas!!!
 
 
 
2 Corinthians 4:5-7   Easy-to-Read Version

“We don’t tell people about ourselves. But we tell people that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we tell them that we are your servants for Jesus. God once said, “Let light shine out of the darkness!”[a] And this is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts to let us know that his own divine greatness is seen in the face of Christ.

We have this treasure from God, but we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This is to show that the amazing power we have is from God, not from us.