What it must have been like, to be in the field that night when the angels announced the coming King to those lowly shepherds. I can’t help but wonder what was running through their minds as the heavenly host sang their glorious song. 

“Could this be true?” “Why have we been chosen to hear this good news?” “Where can we find Him so we can worship Him?” “What does life look like after this?” 

In a way, our own experiences of salvation are not that different from that of the shepherds that night in the hills of Palestine, thousands of years ago. No, we weren’t visited by a host of angels (that would be awesome), but we are saved by hearing the good news of Christ pronounced over us, and I’m sure we all ask the same questions those shepherds asked the night Christ came. 

I wasn’t a shepherd when Jesus met me. I was more like a wayward sheep, caught in the thicket and the thorns of the world. I needed a shepherd to come and bring me home. And that is exactly what happened. My Good Shepherd came and found me. 

He came and found me during my freshman year of college. I showed up to classes that fall without a moral compass, having left any sense of purpose or identity back home. In my household growing up, these things were more of a suggestion than a requirement. My family never talked of spiritual matters or really any topic that would be deemed “taboo.” This only intensified when my parents alerted my siblings and I of their looming separation.

The instability in my family unit led to deep instability in my own heart. The rest of my teenage years were left trying to anchor myself to anything that would offer some kind of security – friends, dating, sexual promiscuity, sports, academic success. Eventually, drinking and drugs entered the equation. But after the high of each attempt would fade, the same feelings of emptiness, loneliness, and hopelessness would creep back in. I needed something, or Someone, better. 

About halfway through my freshman year, these feelings were becoming too great to bear. The gaping hole in my heart was becoming too great to be filled. Something had to change so I reached out to a friend for help. As we sat down for coffee, he shared the good news of Jesus with me. The same message the angels shared with the shepherds - “The Savior has come.” 

I wasn’t saved on the spot, but I was interested. My friend encouraged me to read John’s gospel so I agreed, and he lent me a Bible to use. What I found in those pages was a Savior even more wonderful and even more merciful than I ever imagined. When I arrived at John 10:11, I met a kind of Savior I didn’t expect. “I AM the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” 

Fast forward a few weeks, and I found myself at a student-led worship night with some of my buddies. I had never enjoyed worship music and yet I was there. I spent the next hour weeping in my seat because God had opened my eyes. I was a sinner in desperate need of a Savior, and that Savior was Jesus. I surrendered my life to him that night, April 11th, 2017. 

We might not get an angel choir to serenade us like the shepherds did the night Jesus was born, but I believe we get something even better. When we believe, God fills us with His Spirit, Who continues the song through us. We get to join in with the eternal chorus singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” We get to know the Savior, and He invites us to join in His song. 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. Think back to your own salvation experience. How did Jesus save you and how did you respond? 

2. How has Jesus shepherded you? Name some specific examples from your life. 

3. Have you joined in the eternal song? Who are you sharing the good news with?