God Chose the Shepherds

Last week I starting a series leading up to Christmas title, "God Chose..." I shared how God chose Mary, Joseph, and the stable for Jesus' birth.  Today I'm going to share how God chose the shepherds.  Luke 2:8-20 can be seen narrated in the video below by Linus:

                           

An angel appeared to shepherds and shared the savior's birth with them, then they went quickly to Bethlehem to find Jesus and worship him.  Those of us familiar with the Christmas story have heard about the shepherds many times, and they have a fitting spot in nativity sets on display too, but have you ever considered why God chose the shepherds?

Here's a little background on what it meant to be a shepherd during the time around Jesus' birth: Many shepherds lived like nomads.  They had no property or home and spent their time out in the fields taking care of the sheep.  They weren't the lowest on the totem pole, but these men didn't own the sheep, they were hired by the owners of the sheep to tend to them.  Their job was very important,  but didn't earn them much respect.  They tended to the sheep no matter the weather and slept with the sheep in "sheepfolds" which were little stone-walled where they kept the sheep at night with the shepherds literally acting as the doorway to keep the sheep in and the predators out.  There was nothing glamorous about this job. So why did God choose them?

Jesus came to be be a shepherd. In John 10: 11 Jesus states, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. "  Shepherds can relate to Jesus' words, they would leave their flock to find the one sheep that had wandered off.  The sheep also knew the shepherds voice and came when he called.  The shepherds realized the need for a savior and protector, as that's what they really were to their sheep.

Just like Mary and Joseph came from humble beginnings and Jesus was born in a stable, these shepherds weren't that different from them either.  The angels came to the people, the shepherds, because after all that's who Jesus came to save- all of us.

I recently learned my lesson about buying look a-likes from shops online.  I found an "inspired" J.Crew excursion vest from a online boutique recently.  I picked it up for $35 shipped and I was pretty impressed, because it was a 50% sale and sold for double that at full price.  Then, it arrived.  It was awful.  The zipper hardly zipped and was mis-sewn and was "wiggly" the whole way up.  I'm still working on getting a Paypal refund. : (  Then, I saw that Old Navy had this vest and I was able to pick it up for $20.  It may be a look a-like to the J.Crew and not the real thing, but it's well made and a brand I can trust.  

Vest: Old Navy same

Sweater: J.Crew factory

Button-up: Old Navy similar

Jeans: Old Navy same

Necklace: Purple Peridot

 Bracelets: chloe + isabel c/o same, same 

Booties: Wanted similar