The warning to be awake and watch shines like a beacon throughout the Holy Scriptures. We are advised to watch against and to watch for, to watch against evil and to watch for the appearing of the Christ. The Word of God in the Bible records His ever-present availability in every human experience. But it also reveals that we must be awake and watch if we would see the uncovering of evil and behold the manifestation of God's presence and power, the Christ.
Speaking of the wakeful shepherd's seeing the faint light of morning, Mrs. Eddy writes in the Preface to Science and Health (p. vii): "So shone the pale star to the prophet-shepherds; yet it traversed the night, and came where, in cradled obscurity, lay the Bethlehem babe, the human herald of Christ, Truth, who would make plain to benighted understanding the way of salvation through Christ Jesus, till across a night of error should dawn the morning beams and shine the guiding star of being. The Wisemen were led to behold and to follow this daystar of divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony."
The shepherds at the time of the Saviour's birth were awake and watching because of the humble affection which prompted them to watch so tenderly over their sheep in the fields outside of Bethlehem. Because they were watching to protect their sheep from the devouring wolves that prowled through the darkness of the night, they were awake to behold the glory of God, which shone about them, and to hear the angel's words announcing the Saviour's birth. After this experience, because of their alertness, they saw the babe in the manger in Bethlehem and knew that they were standing in the presence of the Christ.
