Editor’s note: Christmas is right around the corner! Can you believe it? As we wait on the arrival of King Jesus, enjoy this devotion written for Devotionals Daily by Grammy® Award Winner, Chris Tomlin, author of a new children’s book Good News of Great Joy. Experience the wonder and majesty of the first Christmas night with this inspiring story about a brave, young shepherd. A Christmas story to read together, treasure together, and return to year after year.
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Christmas has a way of bringing a song out of people. Maybe it’s in church when a classic like “Joy to the World” gets sung, or when kids are belting carols in the back seat on the way to their family’s house. Or think about the way all the stores during Christmastime have a playlist in December. It’s not just a tradition thing, I think there’s a deeper reason for it: Christmas started with a song. The very first announcement of Jesus’ birth arrived wrapped in praise, and the first people to hear it were shepherds.
Luke 2:8–14 (NLT) says,
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize Him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.’ Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of Heaven—praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in highest Heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.’
We can imagine what most of the shepherd's nights could have been like. Quiet and mundane evenings spent watching sheep, hoping that if anything moved in the dark it wasn’t a wolf or a thief. God could have announced the birth of His Son somewhere else. Somewhere more fitting for a king. He could have had this happen in a palace or a temple courtyard, but He chose a hillside outside the small village of Bethlehem and He chose to announce this miraculous moment to a group of shepherds on what—at first—seemed like just another night. But it was no ordinary evening, it was a holy night.
God met their fear with good news, and then this host of Heaven filled the night sky with praise.
Before the rest of Bethlehem woke up to what had happened, a few unnamed shepherds heard Heaven’s song and were invited to join the story and song of praise.
Do you ever wonder what it would have sounded like?
For centuries since, believers have sung the words back to God at Christmas in an attempt to carry the angels’ praise onward to their own generation. So when we sing carols in the car, or lift our voices at church, or gather to worship on Christmas Eve, in a way, we’re joining the song the shepherds heard first.
Long before that night, God had promised His people a day when He would come near as their mighty Savior. Through the prophet Zephaniah, He said,
For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. — Zephaniah 3:17, NLT
On a hillside outside Bethlehem, that promise drew near. The angel’s first words calmed the shepherds’ fears, the sky filled with joyful praise, and the mighty Savior came to live among His people in the person of Jesus, born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger.
Luke 2:15–20 (NLT) says,
When the angels had returned to Heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing Him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
The shepherds heard, they went, they saw, they told, and then they went back to their flocks. They returned to the same fields, the same sheep, and the same long nights they had known, but everything was different now. They carried Heaven’s song with them; they carried the promise of Christ back into their daily lives. What an amazing reminder for us. The joy that comes from meeting Jesus doesn’t stay in a moment, it travels home with us and fills ordinary places with His praise.
Advent is a season of preparing our hearts for Jesus, and perhaps part of that preparation is remembering what comes after the celebration. Soon the lights will come down, and the carols will fade from the radio. A new year will arrive with its to-do lists and its normal, everyday moments. But the shepherds’ story reminds us that the praise that happens during Christmas can go home with us. The same God who met them in the fields meets us in our daily lives.
Wherever this Christmas finds you—in a season of celebration or in a season of struggle— the good news is the same good news those shepherds heard.
The Savior has been born. He is the Messiah, the Lord, and Heaven’s song is yours to carry for all your life.
Prayer
Father, thank You for sending good news of great joy to ordinary people on that holy night. Thank You for calming our fears with Your love and for singing over us before we even knew Your name. Put a new song in our hearts this Advent. When this season ends and we walk back into everyday life, help us carry Your praise with us, so that many will see what You have done and put their trust in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Written for Devotionals Daily by Chris Tomlin, author of Good News of Great Joy.
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Your Turn
Let a new song rise in your heart this Advent! And, get ready to rejoice in Jesus and carry that song and joy into the New Year! ~ Devotionals Daily