The shepherds' response to the angels' announcement teaches us how to respond to the good news of Christ's birth. First, they went with haste—they didn't delay, didn't debate, didn't let obstacles stop them. They immediately left their flocks to find the Savior. Second, they worshiped—when they found the baby, they fell in adoration before Him. Third, they shared—"they made known abroad" what they had seen and heard. Their encounter with Jesus transformed them from silent watchers into bold witnesses. They couldn't keep quiet about what God had done. This is the pattern of genuine faith: we hear the gospel, we come to Jesus, we worship Him, and then we tell others what we have discovered.

Scripture repeatedly shows that encounters with God lead to testimony. When the woman at the well met Jesus, she left her water pot and ran to tell her entire town, "Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" (John 4:29). When blind Bartimaeus received his sight, he followed Jesus and glorified God, and "all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God" (Luke 18:43). When the demon-possessed man was healed, Jesus told him, "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee" (Mark 5:19). The pattern is consistent: those who truly encounter Christ cannot help but tell others. The shepherds returned to their fields, but they were no longer the same men who had left. They had seen the Savior, and that changed everything—including their willingness to speak about Him to anyone who would listen.

Prayer: Lord, give us the shepherds' eagerness to seek You, their humility to worship You, and their boldness to share what we have seen and heard. May our lives bear witness to the joy of knowing You. Amen.