Anchor My Faith

Obedient to Go Find

Scripture: Luke 2:15-17

What an experience the shepherds had that night while tending their sheep, but the event came to an end and the shepherds talked about what they had just experienced. The angel told them to go find and: “When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”” (Luke 2:15 ESV). When these shepherds heard about the birth of Jesus, through this angel of the Lord, they made hast to go find him. Should this not be the response of all people who hear about Jesus? Should they not without delay, forsake all and not rest until they have found him? The shepherds traveled to Bethlehem, a short distance, but we simply have to believe and accept him right where we are.

This knowledge that the shepherds received was made known to them by the Lord through the mouth of an angel. Has the Lord not spoken to you through the mouth of someone? Can he not use you and me to speak to someone? In verse 11 the child is referred to with the title of Lord. It was the Lord who spoke through the angel and it is the Lord Jesus who was just born. The Lord is everywhere present, but Jesus is the single earthly human form; Son of God and Son of Man; Jesus was fully God and fully man.

This information or knowledge the shepherds received from the angel was acted upon: “And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger” (Luke 2:16 ESV). Bethlehem was a small town and there were probably very few inns where travelers stayed, and probably there were no other mothers who gave birth to a child in a manger that night in Bethlehem, so to find the child would not have been a problem. The sign given by the angel would have been sufficient to enable the shepherds to easily complete their task. Notice that the shepherds did not delay, but left their flocks and made hast to go find Jesus.

“And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child” (Luke 2:17 ESV). When the shepherds saw the child lying in the manger, just as announced by the angel, they were satisfied of the truth of the coming of the Messiah. They did not keep this truth to themselves, but went and told others of their experience and what they had been told about this child. Have we not also seen and believe in Jesus and do we not also have the responsibility to tell others?

Prayer

Father, having lived in Asia, I notice how eager and willing believers are to risk so much to share the gospel with others, yet here in the west we are so hesitant, maybe because of our desire for comfort and safety, to go, at maybe some risk, and tell others about Jesus. Father, I have also noticed that where the gospel is being shared, Christianity is growing and so is the intensity of persecution. If church growth and persecution is a measure of our effectiveness in sharing the gospel, then here in the west we have two indicators that we are not very effective!