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The Gift of Love
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t was a cold night for that part of the world, and the shepherds who were out watching their flocks upon the hillside drew their heavy cloaks about them. They had built a camp-fire to give them warmth and as they sat in a group about the bright blaze they told stories to each other.
“You speak of the coming of the King, Grandsire,” said a young shepherd-boy eagerly as he leaned toward an old man who was talking, “tell us more about the King.”
“Yes, boy,” answered the old man, “I will tell you the tale as my mother told it to me.”
“Long, long ago, there was a shepherd-boy named David who wandered on these very hills near Bethlehem, keeping watch over his father’s sheep. David heard the story of the promised king who was to be sent from God to rule over all of his people, and David was so happy that he played upon his harp, and as he led the sheep through the green pastures and beside the still waters, he sang of God as the Heavenly Shepherd.
“When David grew up to be a man he became a king and wore royal robes and a golden crown upon his head and he ruled over all the people. After David, came King Solomon, and no king could rival the grandeur of his palace and court. Since then many kings have ruled over us, but the promised King has not come upon the earth, and the songs of David have not yet been fulfilled.”
“Oh, how I wish that I might see the King!” said the boy earnestly.
“You are young, boy, and—who knows? maybe you will live to see the time when these prophecies come true. But I am old and weary with waiting and working and I may never live to see the promised King. Yet I know that the word of God will come true and that He will send His only beloved son to rule the earth.”
As the wind whistled over the hillside, the sheep huddled more closely together.
“Our little lambs will suffer with the cold,” said the shepherd-boy.
“No,” answered his father, “look at the way the mother-sheep lie closely about them, protecting the lambs with their warm bodies. No, the old sheep may feel the chill wind but they will not let their babies suffer.”
“Just look at my little baby lamb,” said the boy. “See it is curled up snugly by its mother. Oh! I do hope that no harm will come to it, for it is the tiniest lamb of the flock and I love it. Do you know, Father, I call it ‘Snow-white’ for it is like the white snow which we sometimes see on the far-distant mountain-peaks.”
“Come, boy,” said the father, “you have rested all day; so you watch the flock and the fire for a time and I will lie down here by Grandsire and take a nap.”
The boy lay upon the ground looking at the camp-fire smoke curling up toward the sky. Then he looked at the sleeping shepherds stretched out upon the ground, and as his eyes rested upon the old man, he remembered the story and said softly: “How I should like to see that King!”
The cold wind seemed to die down and the clouds went across the sky like a flock of scurrying sheep, leaving the stars twinkling brightly in the dark-blue vault of the heavens.
“How beautiful it is, and how still!” he said.
He looked again at the group of sleeping shepherds, and then he looked at the sleeping sheep. As he watched, he saw his little lamb stir uneasily.
“Poor little baby, poor little Snow-white, I believe that it is lonely—I will hold it under my warm coat and protect it while the mother-sheep sleeps.” And so the boy lifted the baby lamb in his strong arms, and, opening his coat, he held it closely in his bosom, while the mother-sheep slept peacefully by his side. The boy forgot to watch the fire and it soon flickered and went out.
He felt a strange chill over all the land, and it was so still—so very still that he wished the men would awaken, or that one of the sheep would bleat, for he felt lonely and afraid and he knew not why.
Suddenly he saw a bright light flashing through the heavens. Was he asleep or dreaming? He sat up and rubbed his eyes. No, the light was coming nearer and nearer, down, down toward the earth. Then he saw that the sheep were stirring uneasily and he heard them bleating, for they were frightened from their sleep. The shepherds, too, were awakening.
“What is the meaning of this strange light?” said one.
“Has a star fallen from the sky?” asked another.
“See this golden cloud of glory resting over us. It is so dazzling bright that I dare not look upon it.”
The shepherds seized their staffs and some of them covered their faces with their cloaks, for they were very frightened. The old man went down upon his knees and looked up reverently while the boy stood motionless gazing spellbound at the radiant vision, for, as they watched they saw in this cloud of golden glory, a beautiful angel who came down, down to the earth and stood upon the hillside among them. When they saw this messenger from God the shepherds trembled with fear, and the angel said:
“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.”
And, as the angel ceased speaking, suddenly the heavens opened and there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host who were singing and praising God, saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Then the bright light was gone and the startled shepherds looked up long and earnestly toward the sky.
“Truly, it was a message from God,” said the shepherd, as he bowed his white head. “God has sent us this angel to tell us that the promised King has come.”
“But the angel said that the Babe was wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger,” questioned the boy. “Is it not strange for a prince to come to such a lowly palace?”
“Yes,” said the old man, “it seems strange, but we know that He is truly the gift of love from God—His only Son who has been promised to us for, lo, these many years. I thank God that my old eyes have been permitted to see this heavenly vision. Come, we must go in haste to find Him.”
“What gift of love shall we carry to the King, Grandsire?” whispered the boy.
“The most precious thing we own,” answered the old man, “that which we love the best.”
“But we shepherds have no gold nor silver, nor sparkling gems fit for a king,” said one of the shepherds. “What, then, can we carry to this child?”
“I know,” said the boy, as he looked lovingly down upon the little lamb which he was still holding in his strong young arms, “we can give this lamb—Snow-white; it is the purest and whitest little lamb from our flock. I love it and it is the best that we have to offer, and surely the good Father in Heaven knows that we are bringing our gift of love to the King.”
“The boy is right,” said the old man. “This baby lamb—the purest of the flock is truly our gift of love.”
And so the shepherds went in haste down the hillside, the boy holding in his arms the baby lamb. Once it bleated softly, “Ma-Ma-a-a,” as though it called its mother, and the boy seemed to hear the mother-sheep on the hillside calling out, “Ba-ba-a-a,” as though she were calling her baby.
“Poor mother-sheep, she will be grieving for her little one,” said the boy to himself, "but if she could only understand she would be glad to give her lamb to the King.”
At last they reached the little town of Bethlehem, and they came to a low stable built upon the hillside, and there they found their King—a tiny babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, as the angel had said, and lying in a manger.
They saw the cattle standing near and Joseph watching over the Holy Mother Mary and the Heavenly Child.
This was no palace home; these were no royal robes of state, but the shepherds knew that the words of the angel were true and that this Babe was their promised king. The heavenly light was streaming from the face of the Holy Child and the shepherds covered their faces, for they could not look upon its radiance. Then they fell upon their knees and worshipped the Child, and thanked God that the gift of love had been given to all the waiting world.
The boy looked on with wondering eyes, and then he held out the little lamb, and the Babe smiled into the eyes of the boy and stretched out His tiny hands as though He would take the lamb. Then the boy sank slowly down upon his knees by the Babe and placed at His feet the tiniest lamb from the flock— a gift of love for the Christ-Child.
