Luke 2:20

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. Luke's song of the nativity is not yet ended; he has a story of some Christmas Christians to tell, and its effect is enhanced by its great simplicity.

Hardly had the angels left the field to return back to heaven, when the shepherds began to speak to one another, repeating the words over and over, as people are apt to do when under the influence of great excitement. Come, let us go! they cry. They want to take a shortcut, they want to go the nearest way to Bethlehem; there is no time to lose. They wanted to see this matter, they wanted to behold with their own eyes this miracle. Not to verify the message of the angel; no, they were sure of the truth of his message. The thing is settled by the angelic proclamation: the thing, the miracle, has come to pass; the Lord has made it known unto us. They believed the word that had been preached to them, they trusted in the Gospel-message, the content of the angel's message was a fact to them. To trust, not in feelings nor in surmises, but in the sure Word of the Gospel, that is the essence of the faith required by God at all times. And they suited their actions to their words. They came hurrying and found everything just as the angel had told them. This was a confirmation of their faith which filled their hearts with joy. There was Mary, the mother, there was Joseph, the foster-father, and there was the Child, that miracle-Child, whose name is Wonderful, lying in the crib, the manger of the stable. And now the Christmas believers became Christmas missionaries. It is impossible for a Christian not to give evidence in words and deeds of the faith that lives in his heart when he has seen and found Jesus the Savior in the Gospel. They made the matter known concerning this fact that was told them, all that happened to them, the wonderful message they received, the confirmation of the angel's words in a most accurate way. The story made a great stir in Bethlehem the next day, it aroused much interest. All the people that heard about it wondered, marveling being the common, the first result of the Gospel-message. wherever the shepherds came and repeated their story, this was the effect. Only Mary is mentioned as an exception. Instead of wondering, she held fast the words, carefully guarding them as a sacred treasure and moving them back and forth in her heart. Mark well: All the people wondered, but Mary thought on all the wonderful things that happened to herself and to the shepherds. This distinction must be made to the present day. Many a person is struck by the beauty of the Gospel-story and expresses his views accordingly, but few there are that take the time to meditate upon the great facts of our salvation, to move them back and forth in their hearts, to examine them from all sides, to discover all the beauties of these priceless treasures. "It is His will that His Word not only hover on the tongue, like foam on the water and froth in the mouth which a person spits out; but that it be pressed into the heart and remain such a mark and spot as no one can wash off, just as though it had grown there and is a natural thing, which does not permit itself to be erased. Such a heart was that of the Virgin Mary, in which the words remained as though graven therein. " Meanwhile the shepherds continued their work of spreading the news concerning the wonder-Babe, and when they had accomplished all that their heart bade them do, they returned to their daily labor. They had been God's messengers, as all true Christians should be, they had been bearers of the glorious tidings of salvation. But they did not presume to be more than their station permitted. They praised and magnified God that they had been graciously permitted to hear the news concerning their salvation. What they had seen and heard in that night was engraven upon their hearts in letters of light from above. Thus it should be with all believers in Christ, the Savior, since they are blessed in the same measure as the shepherds. In their external behavior and bearing there does not seem to be much difference between them and the children of the world. They attend to the work of their calling and are not ashamed if the Lord has given them a lowly station in life. But in their heart there is glorious light and life. In the midst of the heat and toil of the day they rejoice in God, their Savior, who has delivered them from all the toil and trouble of this earthly life and opened the glories of heaven to them.