F O O T H O L D
READING
2 THAT VERY SPECIAL NIGHT
PRAY Help me to grasp again
the excitement of this very familiar story,
heavenly Father.
READ Luke 2:120.
THINK What does this story
tell us about God?
What should be distinctive
about a Christian's celebration of
Christmas?
FOCUS Try to catch the
wonder of this most priceless of all stories. The
Old Testament foretold that
the Saviour should come by human birth,
at Bethlehem, as a
descendant of David, that he would come out of
Egypt, and be connected with
Nazareth a most extraordinary and
unlikely combination.
But God brings together the
apparently small events of human
history in unpredictable and
amazing ways. Augustus was Emperor in
Rome and he ordered a census.
Unknown to himself he was being used
by God to ensure that Jesus
was born where the prophecy said he
would be (3,4). God may well
sometimes work out his purposes for
you, too, through apparently
casual events.
Notice the contrast between
verses 7 and 9. Verse 7 tells us about
the birth of a baby in a
dark, dismal, dirty, smelly, noisy, damp
Eastern stable. But just
occasionally the unseen world, the world
where God rules over all,
breaks in upon ours as here. The
shepherds caught a glimpse;
they shared briefly in the joy and
worship which is the very
life of heaven (14).
Imagine yourself leaning
over the newborn baby Jesus lying in
straw, in a manger in
Bethlehem. Wonder of wonders! The eternal One
has entered into time.
History will never be the same again.
PRAY Accept my praises,
Lord, as I join the hosts of heaven to declare
your glory.
