If you're going back to work today, what will you take with you from Christmas? A few gifts and some warm holiday memories, or something more?

I like the way J. B. Phillips translates Luke 2:20--"The shepherds went back to work, glorifying and praising God for everything that they had heard and seen, which had happened just as they had been told."

After hearing the angel's announcement of Messiah's birth, after visiting Bethlehem where they found the baby lying in the manger, after telling people the amazing things they had heard about this child--after all this, the shepherds went back to the fields, the sheep, and their daily routine.

But they returned from that first Christmas with something new--hearts full of praise for what they had experienced. Their circumstances were the same, but they themselves were different--they had encountered Christ the Lord.

Have you encountered Christ this Christmas, perhaps through His Word or a new appreciation of His coming? When someone asks, "How was your holiday?" what will you say? With Christ in your heart, you can go back to work with joy and a word of witness to others--glorifying and praising God for everything you have heard and seen.  — David C. McCasland