Something God showed me was in the message of the angel. His proclamation began with the words, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David". No doubt the shepherds quaked at this announcement--it had to do with King David! Royalty, with whom they had little connection. But then, that notice was detailed with the birth of a "babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." Now THAT they could identify with! That was birthday, shepherd-style...but wait, didn't the angel say it was the birthday of a Messiah? The King of the Jews? The two bits of information...did not compute!
And had it been scholars, they may've rationalized and analyzed and scoffed at the seeming incongruity, the mismatch of data...and in the end, concluded the words to have been allegorical or symbolic, NOT LITERAL But it wasn't scholars, it was shepherds. And they said, "What are we doing just sitting here? Why stand we here idle? If we tarry 'til the morning light, some mischief will come upon us! Now let's go see what that angel was talking about!" And they got up off their heinies (SP?) and rushed off to Bethlehem. And, as a result, they were one of the first to feast their eyes on Jesus!
God doesn't want ROYALTY, an "impressive" display of that which might look good to us; He wants our love, our worship, our single-minded desire to see Him! (And sometimes, even our power of reason can get in the way!) Oh Lord, take me in my simple weakness, just as I am, and as you did for those shepherds thousands of years ago, show Yourself to me! Immanuel.
