A Heart that Drops Everything

Luke 2:15-16

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."

So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.

God does not chose people like we do. We chose those we consider to be the best and most influential, a pattern inbred is us since since those days growing up in the sandbox. 

So why then did God select these shepherds to be the first human representatives, outside of Mary and Joseph, to see baby Jesus? Well, we won't find the answer if we look through the prism of their credentials? We won't find the answer based on their celebrity status or family prominence. We probably wouldn't find it based on their character and morality. The only thing we do know is that for whatever reason, God chose them, while they were tending their flock and just going through the process of completing another monotonous day. 

Yet God turned that routine into a day that not only would they remember, but also generations to come, including those that will follow us. These shepherds, occupationally considered to be the bottom of the food chain, where given the privilege that was denied even to the religious elite and the sages of that era. 

You see, God is not impressed by our credentials or by how much we know. Instead what He looks for has more to do with our hearts than our heads. Here, in this account, we become aware of how these shepherds intrinsically were moved. The text says, they immediately agreed to go straight to Bethlehem, seemingly leaving everything behind, including their sheep. There was something intrinsic that was moved within the corridors of their hearts which led them to drop everything to witness the prophesied savior being born that very day. 

Imagine God inviting you to come celebrate this one-time-in-history world premier event. How would you respond? Would you drop everything and do whatever was necessary to make it there on time? Your response to that question reveals to an important degree the spiritual gauge of your heart. 

At the end of the story we are told the shepherds went back to the fields glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Ultimately, this serves to drive home the point that it is never about what you know or who you are that pleases God. Instead it revolves around how you respond to His revelation about Jesus, who he announced thru an angel is the Savior of the world.