“In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And so 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 today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army of angels praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased.” When the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem, then, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen Him, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it were amazed about the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.” (Luke 2:8-20 NASB)
Before you say to yourself, “This isn’t Christmas time!” or “Isn’t this supposed to be short Monday, where the meditation is somewhat abbreviated?” – let me inform you that it is never a wrong time to talk about the coming of Jesus, our Savior, and let me instill in your mind something that I hope will not just inspire you, but will impress you enough to infuse your spiritual being to intentionally be like Mary and the shepherds in the opening, and hopefully familiar, passage. You may not believe it, but I am keeping it short.
Prior to our text, in chapter one we see the activity of the angel Gabriel, bringing a message, an announcement of the birth of Jesus. In our text, we see an angel of the Lord communicating good news of great joy about a happening in the city of David, the place where for us a Savior, who is Christ the Lord has been born. One of the primary roles of angels is to bring a message, sent specifically by God for a specific purpose. In our text, the angel is joined by a host of other angels, a multitude of the heavenly hosts, and they began praising God. And in their praising, as you see above, there was a message. They were not trying to put on a performance, but they were just passing on the truth.
As you go through the text, we pick up some lessons from the shepherds and Mary. From the shepherds, we should have put on those “ears to hear,” but we should not stop there. We must seek validation of the message. Also from the shepherds, we learned that glorifying and praising God for all we heard and saw yesterday in our special occasion, called the assembling of the saints, or just called “church,” should prompt a response similar to the shepherds, praising God for the message received. From the shepherds, we also see in the text that the shepherds could not keep the good news to themselves and spoke out about what they were told, and others were amazed. Great example of not keeping the word to ourselves! From Mary, we learn that we should treasure up all the things that the Lord had to say to us through the angel of the church where you worship; by your specific messenger or his designee who proclaim the word of God. I should point out that the “treasuring” that Mary did, it transformed her life going forward. The same should be the case for you and for me. Read the closing verse from a paraphrased translation and meditate on it for further direction and distinctive, direct inspiration. I took it from yesterday’s sermon on a day where I sat and listened intently to the preacher conveying the specific message that God gave him. Have a great Monday! Short Monday? Maybe not! Was it a surely needed meditation, regardless of the length? Definitely! Be blessed!
“But don’t let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother’s milk! There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17 The Message Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King