What if God, or His angels, were to appear to you in the middle of your work shift (or for students, your lesson), with a message for you? 

This happened to a group of shepherds on the night Jesus was born – in the middle of their ‘night shift’, God’s angels appeared to them, proclaiming the glad tidings of their Messiah’s birth (Luke 2:8-14). 

If you were these shepherds, how would you have reacted? 

If it were me in the middle of my work shift, although I can relate to their fear and astonishment, I might also feel too bogged down by work to ponder over God’s message, let alone take action to verify it – which is why I find the response of these shepherds so remarkable (Luke 2:15-20). 

Instead of resuming their late-night shepherding work or returning home to first catch up on their sleep, these shepherds immediately put down their secular work and “made haste” to see baby Jesus for themselves, before sharing God’s revelation excitedly with everyone.  

I find this worthy of my personal emulation – how these shepherds could put down their earthly commitments and affairs so readily, to respond to God’s unexpected calling, without hesitation or delay. It shows how much these shepherds had been thinking about their Messiah, as they waited for His coming with much anticipation. It says a lot about their love for God and His kingdom. 

What about us today? Are we, or can we, be like these shepherds – always setting our minds on the kingdom of heaven, even as we go about our busy lives on earth (Colossians 3:1-2)? 

Today, heeding God’s calling amid our earthly busyness will look like: 

• Pausing to mentally and spiritually re-align ourselves with God constantly, through prayer, bible-reading and worshipping in church.

• Reminding ourselves to rely on God while dealing with our problems and stress in a godly way; instead of acting on our negative emotions or over-relying on ourselves. 

• Striving to fulfill Jesus’ commission of saving souls, even in our schools, workplaces, and households. 

God has called us, not to be taken out of the world, but to be sent into the world to sanctify it, along with ourselves (John 17:15-19). The shepherds, as well as Simeon (Luke 2:25-27), Anna (Luke 2:36-38) and boy Jesus (Luke 2:46), have given us a good example of how we can approach our earthly lives with hearts set steadfastly on heaven. “For where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) 

May we strive to be like these people – hearts waiting for God in anticipation, ever ready to receive the salvation He has promised us.