Have you ever had exciting news to tell? To whom did you tell the news?

One day when I was a boy growing up on a cattle ranch in western Minnesota, I had exciting news to tell. One of the mother cows was missing her day-old calf; so I saddled up the horse and rode to look for the lost calf. I found the calf lying in the ditch close to the pasture where the cattle had been grazing. I put the calf in front of me on the saddle and carried it back to its mother. With much relief I told my family the happy news of the lost calf being found.

"Adoration of the Shepherds,"Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. From the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia.

In the Christmas story found in Luke 2:8-20 we read that the shepherds, who were taking care of their sheep and watching over them, received the most important news to tell — that Jesus the Savior had been born. During the night when an angel in all God’s glory stood among them, they became afraid because they did not expect to see and hear angels. After the announcement of Jesus’ birth the shepherds calmed down, listened to the angelic choir, went to Bethlehem, and found the baby Jesus just as it had been told to them. Joyfully they told others the exciting news about what they had seen and heard.

At this time of year we have the opportunity to proclaim the Christmas news in personal witness, stories, and songs. We are reminded of the shepherds and how they worshipped the baby Jesus. When Jesus grew up, He referred to Himself as the Good Shepherd who gave Himself for the sheep. We have reason to believe that He honored and loved the shepherds who took care of the sheep.

We know, too, that as the Good Shepherd, He loves and cares for all of us, His sheep.