The Shepherds Were God's First Choice | The Christmas Story in 5 Verses

Over the past few weeks, we've been diving into verses that outline or highlight important parts of the Christmas story, and today for our third week, we're going to be jumping into the role that the shepherds play in Jesus' arrival. I want to be really intentional about uncovering why the shepherds were so significant and why it matters to us today - because I believe it truly does!

The verse that we're going to be centering today's conversation on is Luke 2:15, but if you aren't familiar with the entire story of the shepherds, I'd encourage you to read it straight from Scripture, which is found in Luke 2:8-20.

"When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

To get some context of the culture at this time: shepherding was considered a very lowly job. It was dirty, it was outdoors, and it just wasn't highly respected to be working in the flock with animals - sheep nonetheless. They had an important job of protecting the sheep, but were often uneducated, and likely would have been young teenage boys and girls.

And yet this is the group that God first sent the announcement to that Jesus had arrived. God chose the angels to tell them, not the Pharisees, not religious leaders, not even upper class people, but the shepherds. Even though the shepherds are such an accepted part of our nativity seen, I don't want to gloss over this because it demonstrates so much of the Father's heart.

We serve a God who isn't interested in fame or what's popular. We serve a God who longs to bring all people closer to Himself and who extends the invitation of His love to everyone. Our Father wants to invite people to participate in His work and He calls those who have softened hearts towards His will - not just those who seem educated, prepared, or of a high social status. He could have easily sent the angels to Herod or Pilate to make a statement, but He chose to give the shepherds the first message of hope, the first announcement of the Messiah's arrival.

The shepherd's were God's first choice.

You're God's first choice, too.

Even if the world wouldn't choose you to be first, expect that you would be given such an incredible opportunity, or even doubt your abilities, God sees you and chooses you. He invites you to be part of His master, grand plan of drawing the whole world back to His heart, and He's making the announcement to you. We may not get angels singing at our doorstep, but the Father is welcoming us with open arms, and He wants you to know just how big and wide and deep and high His love is for you. He wants you to know the great lengths He went to demonstrate that for you - by sending His perfect Son into a broken world as a weak baby, and then later dying the most gruesome death on a cross to take our place experiencing the wrath of God. Jesus did all that and raised from the dead so that you would know that just like the shepherds, God is calling you in and declaring the good news to you as well.

Now - the reason why I chose Luke 2:15.

The shepherds just had a mountain top experience of the angels visiting them, singing, and proclaiming that the Messiah was born, but they didn't fall back into the mundane of their job. They didn't shrug off the message or even keep it to themselves. The shepherds first sought it out, looking to see if what they had heard was real and true. They didn't just take the angels' word for it - and thank goodness they didn't! Because as they explored, as they got out of thier comfort zone and searched for the truth, experiencing an even greater joy and depth to the miracle they had already witnessed. They found Jesus, instead of just hearing about Him. To think they would have missed out on that if they hadn't been willing to leave the flock!

After they saw Jesus and met Him face to face, they couldn't keep this news to themselves. They spread the word, and the Bible says that everyone who heard it was amazed. The shepherds had a decision to make: remain comfortable and celebrate on their own, or take a step of faith, risk looking crazy, and share the joy with everyone they knew. They took the risk, and I can only imagine how rewarding that was, to be able to share with everyone you love and even strangers on the street that the Messiah you all have been waiting for has finally arrived. Jesus finally arrived, and that wasn't a message they could hold in or hide.

Have you taken the step to investigate your faith? Have you found a deeper intimacy with the Father because you asked hard questions and sought the truth?

I know I have. I've experienced so much joy through finding Jesus in my questions, making sure I'm not just accepting whatever message I hear but truly diving deep into Scripture and what it means. I've found so much peace knowing that the Word of God is true, and it is real, and it is the guide to my life. Instead of hearing about Jesus, accepting it, and moving on, I've had to do the difficult work of uncovering if He's real and who He says He is, but by leaving my post to find Him, I've found abundant life, and I never want to go back. I want you to experience that too, friend.

Are we going out and sharing the news with others? Are we boldly inviting those around us to join us in our search for Christ and celebrating the Messiah's arrival?

I know this is something that Lord has put on my heart lately. It's not a strength of mine but it is a conviction of mine. Our Abba has given us such good news, and He doesn't want us to keep it to ourselves, friend. He wants us to let other people know that we have recieved a life changing kind of love, one that pulls us from the darkest pit and restores our eternity that once was full of darkness and isolation. But even more than that, our God deserves all the glory. He deserves for the whole world to know about Him and praise His name. He deserves it all, and are we doing our part to give that to Him?

Just some food for thought today. :)

The story of the shepherds is so impactful to me, and I think it's incredible reading about how God chooses lowly, unexpected people to do His work and execute His plan. Just because I don't feel qualified doesn't mean that He won't equip me and still use me. The Father is inviting us to dive in, search to know if He is the answer, and then share that message with others. He is the answer, He is the truth, and our response to that discovery should be boldness and courageousness as we invite others into the family as well.