The Light Has Come: Part 3

Christmas Day is not meant to end with sentiment alone. The shepherds hear the angelic announcement, and when the angels go away from them into heaven, they say in LUKE 2:15 (ESV), "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened." They respond to revelation with movement. They go with haste. That detail matters. They do not treat the word as something interesting but optional. They go. They see Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. The promise has become visible. The Savior has been born. Then they make known what had been told them concerning the child. Christmas rightly received becomes witness.

The shepherds were not scholars, rulers, or priests. But they had heard the message and seen the child. They spoke what had been made known to them. God can use ordinary people who respond to His Word with faith. Mary treasures these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds return glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. There is a full pattern here: hear, go, see, speak, treasure, glorify. That is a better Christmas than mere activity.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:6 (ESV) says God has shone in our hearts to give "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The light that has come is not only around us. By grace, God shines in the heart so Christ is seen and treasured. Today, do not only mark a date. Come and see by faith. Treasure Christ. Speak of what God has done. Return to ordinary life glorifying and praising God. The light has come. The Savior has been born. Let worship be the answer. And let that worship move beyond the day itself. The shepherds returned to their fields, but they did not return unchanged. They went back glorifying and praising God. That is a holy picture for us. The same responsibilities may still be waiting after Christmas. The same home, work, pressures, and people may still be there. But when Christ has been seen by faith, ordinary life is carried differently. PSALM 96:2 (ESV) says, "Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day." Christmas worship is meant to become daily witness.