The Birth Night

A short story taken from Luke chapter 2 in the Bible about the shepherds in the field that came to the birth of Jesus.

It was late at night as I lay in the pasture.
I was just a young shepherd, out with the rest, tending to the flock of sheep.

The night was getting darker and my eyes were getting heavy.
"A little sleep wouldn't hurt." I thought to myself as I started to doze off.

Just as I was drifting away into my dreams I was awoken by a loud serene noise.
I, along with the rest of the shepherds, rose in fear.
And to this day I still can't believe it, but right in front of us there was an angel!

We were all terrified.
The glory of The Lord shown all around us.

I tried to see past the bright light it was emitting.
But the light was so strong I couldn't make out what the angel looked like.

"Do not be afraid." the angel said.
"I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people."

He went on to tell us that tonight, in the town of David, our savior had been born.
And that we could find him laying in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes.

As soon as the angel had finished speaking a great company of angels suddenly appeared and filled the sky.
This was like nothing I had ever seen before and I stood there in awe as they started singing.
"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to all men on whom his favor rests."

And then, just as suddenly as they had appeared, they vanished right before our eyes.
We stood there for a moment wondering if what we really saw was real.
Some of the shepherds fell on their knees and began praising God while others said,"I wonder if it is true; let us go down to Bethlehem and see!"

Now we were on a fairly steep hill overlooking this small town.
But we ran down it; completely ignoring the fact that we were leaving the sheep unattended.
And soon we came to the small town of Bethlehem.

As we ran into town we had to stop for a minute and catch our breath.
We began searching the city for the baby the angel had told us about, but we could not find anything.

Tired and weary we were about ready to give up.
"It's hopeless!" one of the shepherds yelled.
"The angel lied!"

I slouched down to the ground beside a building in defeat and turned my head to the sky.
I opened my eyes and was surprised and saw a star in the sky.

Now, as a shepherd I spend a lot of time at night looking at the sky and observe a lot of different stars; but this one was bigger and brighter than I had ever seen before.
Something in my heart said,"This is a sign from The Lord."

"Look!" I yelled as I rose up.
"Let us follow that star!"

So we weaved our way back through the town following this star and were surprised to find that it was directly above a stable.
"This can't be right." I said to myself.
"The savior of the world born in a stable?"

As we made our way closer we were surprised to see that a small crowd had already gathered.
Some of my friends stood in the back, but I being small was able to navigate through the people to get in closer.

When I arrived at the front I could not believe what I saw.
There was a man and a woman standing by a manger and in front of it there were three men dressed like kings on bended knee.
I saw them place down gifts.
The first laid down gold; the second frankincense, and the last one laid down myrrh.
And after they gave their gifts, while bowing, they backed away slowly.

At that moment I fell to my knees and was in awe.
For in the manger, there he lay, a small baby boy.

But this was not an ordinary child; he had this glow about him.
And he wasn't crying; he just laid there and smiled.

At this point the men I had come here with ran away shouting.
"It is him!"
"The savior has been born!"
Praise God!"

But me, I just stayed on bended knee by his side.
I will never forget the time I spent with the Messiah on his birth night.

Reviews

[❤ Maggie ❤..]

So awesome. :) I love this you did a great job with the one! Keep up the good work :)

[Erik Daniel]

Thank you! Glad you liked it!

[Imogen.E]

It's different to hear the birth of Jesus Christ in a different point of view, even from the Shepard's view, it seems a magical night. Good write :)

[Erik Daniel]

Thank you for the review! Glad you liked it!

[Tarella]

Awesome story....the birth of Our Saviour and friend...I love the way your words flowed out freely...it felt like I was there seeing everything happening....well done...

[Erik Daniel]

Thank you so much! Glad you liked it!

[max_vonnegut]

This was enjoyable to read. It reminded me of the Christmas play we have at my church. Nice job!

[Erik Daniel]

Thanks man! I always look forward to your reviews!