They Went

"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 to us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child." Luke 2: 15-17

What if the shepherds would have witnessed the heavenly host of angels telling them of Christ's birth and decided not to go? (Its unthinkable, I know!) But how many times do we get direction from God and do absolutely nothing about it?

God sent the angels to the shepherds with a purpose. The shepherds knew what the Lord was asking them to do, but they still had to make a decision to do it. Its a good thing the shepherds were obedient. I would even guess that they didn't talk about whether they would go or not for very long. The Bible says they went with "haste"! That means they moved fast to find Jesus.

And you know what's even greater? Their journey did not end when they found Jesus. Finding Jesus was the reward for the obedience! The journey really only began once they found Jesus because then they went and began telling everyone else about Him!