"The shepherds went back to work, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen, which had happened just as they had been told." (Luke 2:20 J.B. Phillips).

It's especially challenging to get back to work after the Christmas holidays. The festivities of the season break up our calendars with enough change of setting and schedule to help us detach from the daily grind and focus on what makes life worth living. Like the shepherds who were given front row seats for beholding God's humble entrance into our world, we must go back to work with a new sense of mission. Hopefully we are returning to our workplaces the way that the shepherds returned to theirs, "glorifying and praising God" because we have been freshly impacted by the "Christmas" event.

When the shepherds went back to work, they were no longer the same. Their lives had been dignified by a heavenly visitation. They had been entrusted with vital information; the revelation of God's plan of salvation for the human race. Their lives now had new hope, meaning and purpose. Tending the flock, although it remained their temporal occupation, was no longer their 'vocation'. They were now called to tend a revelation. And this would affect everything they would do.

Apart from speaking to the prospective parents of John the Baptist and Jesus, God was ending 400 years of silence by speaking to this select group of laborers. The angel entrusted them with this important piece of spiritual intelligence: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord."

It was not to the theologians, academics, or popular politicos that God trusted this great news. It was to the common worker; the shepherd who faithfully tended his or her charge on the Bethlehem hillsides. The angel made it clear that they were invited to participate in God's plan. It was for them that the Savior has come.

The angel left no question as to the unique identity of this newborn. He is the Savior. The heavenly messenger also told them that Jesus is the Christ, the Lord. The first title explains who He is in relationship to God's plan. He is the Christ, the anointed One, the unique Son of God appointed to undermine the kingdom of darkness, destroy the works of the devil, ransom sinners from Satan's authority, redeem humanity from the curse and inaugurate the kingdom of God. He is the summation of all previously anointed ones: the ultimate priest, prophet and king. He is commissioned to reconcile all things to God. The second title explains who He is in relationship to all creation. He is Lord of all. As our Savior, He is worthy of our trust. As our Lord, He is worthy of our obedience.

The angels did not want the shepherd to be spectators only. He did not want to give them information that would leave them short of experiencing a transformation. He intended for them to have an encounter with the living Christ that would change their lives forever. The unveiling of God's loving plan to send His Son to embrace the human experience to such a degree as to identify with all human frailties gave these workers a new perspective on life.

Unlike the religious leaders who had the information as to the prophesied place of birth for the Messiah but never bothered to go there, the shepherds said, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." After they encountered Christ, they spread the revelation of Who Jesus really was to all the people, including Jesus' mother.

What about you? Have you had a life-changing encounter with the Christ, the Son of the Living God? It is not to the proud, but to the humble that God makes His appeal. It is one thing to know that Jesus was born of a virgin peasant girl in the humble surroundings of an animal stall. It is another thing to humble your heart and recognize your need for Him to be born in your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what brings about transformation.

What you do with this bit of spiritual intelligence will ultimately determine your destiny. By doing nothing we remain in a kingdom of darkness that is headed for damnation. By welcoming the light of life, and saying 'yes' to God's gracious provision of pardon and peace through the gift of Christ, we become partakers of His divine nature and participants in His eternal kingdom. We go back to work as heavenly agents; ambassadors for Christ (2Corinthians 5:20).

During this season we have taken time to especially wrap gifts which we have purposed to give to loved ones. We do this in recognition of God's gift to us in Christ. In light of His birth in us may we provide 'gift wrapped' service to those we interact with today; service that reflects the Gift that has changed our lives from the inside out!

Wrapped in the wonder of it all,