Imagine this...you're a shepherd...You and your cronies are outside on a sheep-studded hillside, some distance from the lights of town. All is darkness except for moonglow and starshine. Oh, and the flickering light cast by the small fire you've lit. It's an ordinary night. You've just made your rounds of the hillside and the sheep are all accounted for, no predators seem to be lurking, and you and your friends have gathered round the fire to swap stories and keep each other company.

All of a sudden, your usual night's work is interrupted by an event that makes your heart stand still! From the ordinary to the extraordinary in the space of a heartbeat!

There before you stands a terrifying presence, a heavenly creature, an angel of the Lord! If your legs weren't paralyzed with fear, you'd run! But this creature says, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy...Today...a Savior has been born...." (Luke 2:10-11)

This is astounding news, that the long-awaited Savior has arrived! And at that moment, the entire sky fills with other heavenly beings, all praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests." (Luke 2:14)

The quiet darkness of an ordinary night has vanished with the presence of the angels and their news. You, and they, are bathed in indescribable light, a light that erases the shadows, a light that is the glory of the Lord.Then, having delivered their message, just as suddenly, the angels leave. Drawing a shaky breath, you look at your friends and see on their faces the same amazement you feel. And as one, you the other shepherds run for town, to investigate this news, to see this Savior who has come at last.

With the disappearance of the angels, the physical light of their presence disappeared, as well, plunging the hillside back into the accustomed darkness of an ordinary night. But it isn't really an ordinary night, and the real light, the Light that takes away the darkness of sin, remains. In fact, that Light is still with us today.

For, you see, it wasn't just to that sheep-grazed hillside that the Light came. With the birth of the Messiah, that same light and glory of God came to you...to me...to all of mankind. The light of His love and the grace of His forgiveness are ours because He came to earth that night so long ago, lived the life of an ordinary man, and died in our place on that cross. Because of that Light, we don't have to spend eternity in the shadows of sin.

Author: Kay Bradburn