Never the same again
Dear Friends,
We don’t know much about the shepherds who were the first to hear the news that, “Today in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11, NIV). They were simply doing what shepherds do, living out in the fields and keeping watch over their flocks when the angel of the Lord appeared. What we do know is that they were the first not only to hear the good news, but also to see the Christ and then to spread the word about what they had been told. And then? “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen which were just as they had been told” (verse 20).
Is that it? Did they just go back to the night job? Apparently so. They returned to their flocks. And yet their lives would never be the same again. That is what it is like when someone has a genuine encounter with Christ, whether then as a baby or now through his Spirit. Some will be called to change direction in their lives, but most will go back to what they were doing before. It seems as though nothing has changed; at the same time everything has changed. Jesus has become their Saviour and their Lord. He will save them from their sins and govern their lives for good. And they will glorify and praise God for what he has done.
Yours in Christ,
Chris Hobbs