And it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into Heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. Luke 2:15
As we set out one Sunday morning to travel to Sussex for the Breaking of Bread, we noticed a car pull out onto the highway ahead of us; in it were friends of ours. Judy remarked that she thought they were headed to Halifax, because they had a daughter there who was expecting a child at any time. She believed they were headed to Halifax – more than four hours away – to see the new baby. When we were speaking with these folks later, we discovered that Judy was right. A new baby is more than just a baby as far as grandparents are concerned. We are always willing to travel a good distance to see a new grandchild. To the shepherds in today’s text, the message they received about a baby being born in Bethlehem was even more exciting than the birth of a grandson. The trip into town was well worth the effort. They were obedient to the message, and they went to the right place.
Did you notice when they were to go? Let us NOW go. Obedience does not have a later option. Obedience drops the current task as quickly as possible and moves in direct response to the Lord’s desire. Do we wonder sometimes why the Lord places so little into our hands to do for Him? Maybe it is because we are so slow to step forward in response to what He wants. We should be like the shepherds, and realize that what the Lord wants is far more interesting and fulfilling than anything that our little plans can drum up. The Lord loves to hear us say, Let us now go.
Did you also notice where they were headed? Even unto Bethlehem. Nowhere else was going to be satisfactory. Home, or visiting relatives, or checking out the marketplace held no interest for them at this point. Their desire was to be where the Lord was. The only thing that mattered was to reach His presence and to see Him. It sounds simple, but that is all the Lord wants of us, too. Where do we go to be in His presence? For one thing, He is always to be found on the road of obedience to Himself. When we do His Word, He is with us. Secondly, He is always in the place where He has placed His Name. So we can always find Him in God’s Assembly. The shepherds were told how to identify the place and the Person. Scripture tells us how to recognize the place and the Person as well.
If we find the place where He is, we are in the place of obedience. And the journey will be well worth the effort. -Jim MacIntosh