Do not be afraid, for I have good news. Today’s scripture from Luke 2 is all about the shepherds in the field when the angel appeared to them. But let’s just think about that for a moment. What must the shepherds have been thinking at that time? There they were, the Bible tells us, just settling down for their night shift, ready to take care of the sheep across the night. A job they’ve probably done for tens of hundreds of days before, every night being the same, watching their sheep in the calm and peace and still of the night. Then all of a sudden, an angel appeared, a mighty angel of the Lord. And the Bible tells us they were terrified. Well, wouldn’t you be?
How would you feel right now if a mighty angel turned up to you as you were doing the washing up, as you were preparing the Christmas meal? Wouldn’t it strike fear into our hearts to start with? But this is what the angel encouraged them with. The angel turned to them and said, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior, yes, the Messiah has been born to us, and you’ll recognize him by this sign. You’ll find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger in Bethlehem.” Wow, what a promise that they had received into their hands! A baby had been born; the Messiah that they had been waiting for. And then the Bible tells us a whole host of angels appeared and they rejoice, “Glory be to God on the highest!” What a sight those shepherds were blessed with that night. And then it tells us that they left their night shift, they left the sheep, and they ran to Bethlehem to see if it was true. And when they got there, they found it just as the angel of the Lord had said. There, in a manger in Bethlehem, the Messiah, a baby had been born unto them.
Maybe God has been speaking something into your life. Maybe there’s a promise there. Maybe you feel that God has given you something that you are holding onto. I wanna encourage you this coming year. Just run with it. Go and see what the Lord has prepared for you in advance. Let your heart be filled with joy. For the Lord came to the earth to bring us joy.
We are so blessed by our partners around the world who faithfully give to GOD TV. It humbles us when we receive donations from around the world, from people who’ve been blessed by the ministry of GOD TV. You know, we are called to preach the gospel to all the nations of the earth, and we cannot do this without you. So I want to invite you today to give generously to GOD TV so that we can continue airing the gospel of Jesus to the nations of the earth.
________
Read more on the GOD TV blog here
Watch GOD TV here
