Christmas Morning: Son Rise on a New Dayಮಾದರಿ

I live in Oklahoma. We are very used to severe weather. When a tornado forms, Oklahomans first look out the window before heading to shelter. I bet people from other climates react more quickly to these storms! Our familiarity with them gives us a false sense of confidence.

In Luke 2:9, the shepherds outside Bethlehem tending their flocks at night are met by an angel of the Lord, and the glory of the Lord shone around them! When we read this, we are so unfamiliar with Bethlehem that we might assume angels were always interacting with shepherds in those fields. After all, the only shepherds we know from Bethlehem (David and these shepherds in Luke 2) both had supernatural events in these fields: David was anointed king by the prophet Samuel and the other shepherds were visited by an angel on the night Jesus was born! The trouble with this line of thinking is that these two events are unique and separated by 1,000 years! To our knowledge, the night Jesus was born was the only time in history angels visited shepherds in Bethlehem.

The shepherds were not expecting an angelic visit, so they responded with great fear. As Linus says in the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, they were “sore afraid.” When someone of superior strength and power appears in your presence unexpectedly, you tend to respond with fear. In Luke 2:9, the angel appeared with the “glory of the Lord” around them. As a result, the shepherds are awestruck.

Do you have a proper respect for God? Though we have tremendous access to Him in Christ, may we never forget who we are approaching in prayer and worship and to whom we will one day give an account for our lives. When people see the true glory of the Lord, they do not shrug their shoulders or look out the window. When thinking properly, they move to shelter immediately and bow in humility. Let us always approach God with respect and honor. Though His glory is veiled in this life, it is no less real. He is our Father, and He loves us, but He is also awesome and mighty.

Think about the attitude with which you approach God, and calibrate it with the shepherds’ interaction with merely the Lord’s angel. In humility, let us approach Him and take our shelter in Jesus Christ.