Remembering the Shepherd's Fields one Night near Bethlehem

I will never forget the night. We had been in Jerusalem for just a few days and were at the home of some friends having a traditional Jewish dinner just a few miles from Bethlehem. It was the Christmas season which made being near Bethlehem even more special.

As dinner concluded, I left the small home of our guests and climbed to the top of a small ridge. The night air was very still and the temperature was rather balmy for November in Israel. I will never forget the sky. It seemed like a million stars were shining and the brilliance of that moment seemed to usher me back 2,000 years to another night and another time when those very same stars shone so brightly.

As I gazed across the landscape, I suddenly realized that before me were shepherds grazing their sheep and shining brightly in the distance was the little town of Bethlehem. The feeling was so surreal that I just stood there and allowed my imagination to carry me on an incredible journey back in time. But it is what happened next that touched my heart forever.

As a young child, the meaning of Worship only consisted of a song or two that would get everyone's attention for the church service about to begin. I must admit that it was not the most exciting thing happening, or something that moved my heart. When I came to know Jesus, worship took on added importance, because it was the time when the church body would come together and sing for maybe one half hour in preparation for the sermon. As a new believer, I knew that this worship thing was important, but I often times found myself singing words but not sensing their significance.

As the years have passed so quickly, I have come to appreciate the times of pure worship where I can quiet my heart and soul and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to me. But it was one early evening near Bethlehem that God defined true Worship for me in such a way that it not only overwhelmed my thought process and emotions but instilled within me the passion to serve Him no matter what difficulties might lie ahead.

As my thoughts were directed towards those shepherds 2,000 years ago, I suddenly grasped a simple truth that had been there all the time, but I HADN'T SEEN IT. Simply, worship is not something that I do but becomes something that I am. Worship can be identified with singing, hand clapping, and prayer, but those are only outward manifestations of a heart that has been surrendered to worship as a lifestyle. Worship is not how many church services I attend per week nor is it listening to the latest CD, But Pure Worship is a lifestyle rooted in a heart of service to those who need a Savior's love.

Paul in Romans 12:1-2 tells us that " offering our bodies as a living sacrifice is our spiritual act of worship." But then, he added something very powerful. " Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." It is here that I want to share with you the key to living a life worthy of the Lord Jesus and leaving a legacy behind that others have had their life changed by your heart of worship.

In Matthew 17:2 Jesus is transfigured before His disciples as well as Moses and Elijah. Here is the correlation; the word used for transfigured is the very word used for transformed in Romans 12:2. So what Paul is saying about those choosing to live a lifestyle of worship after Jesus' example, is that by living in such a way, you are anointed and glorified with His supernatural Authority which in turn allows you to function in the dimension of God's Kingdom Rule and Presence.

That night as I gazed over the shepherd's fields near Bethlehem, I was reminded that, like the Wise Men who followed, they were willing to leave behind everything and seek after a Star that shown over a simple stable in a dusty little town. Their worship was surrendered lives, because nothing less was befitting of a King. Can we settle for anything less if we are to be His hands and feet in the time that we have remaining?

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