This was where I heard about Jesus and about God and about His love for me. This is where I first committed my life to serving Him, kneeling right there on those red velvet altar cushions with my parents standing proudly behind me.

This was the place where I came to worship Jesus.

The First to Hear the Song

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. 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. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."   --Luke 2: 8-14

Shepherds. In the time of Jesus (and still today) these were men who worked long, hard hours. Deane’s David tells about their typical day. Up early in the morning they led their flock to pasture. Once there, they took care of the animals all day, making sure none of them strayed. They had to make certain that food and water were supplied in plenty. At the end of the day they returned the sheep to the fold, “counting them as they passed under the rod at the door to assure… that none were missing.”

But the job was yet to be complete. Thieves and beasts were always about, so keeping watch was paramount.  

Lowly people with laborious work. So why did God choose that these men hear the song first?

James S. Stewart[1] wrote: And is there not a world of meaning in the fact that it was very ordinary people, busy about very ordinary tasks, whose eyes first saw the glory of the Lord? It means, first, that the place of duty, however humble, is the place of vision. And it means, second, that it s the men who have kept to the deep, simple pieties of life and have not lost the child heart to whom the gates of the Kingdom most readily open.[2]