Merry Christmas to everyone on blurt.
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world… So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:1-7)
The Savior of the world came to us, not as a king but as a traveler. The King of Kings was placed in coarse hay and surrounded by dirty animals and the chaos of a town filled beyond capacity. Matthew Henry once wrote about Jesus’ unconventional birth. He said, “He (Jesus) well knew how unwilling we are to be meanly lodged, clothed, or fed; how we desire to have our children decorated and indulged; how apt the poor are to envy the rich, and how prone the rich to disdain the poor.
But when we by faith view the Son of God being made man and lying in a manger, our vanity, ambition, and envy are checked. We cannot, with this object rightly before us, seek great things for ourselves or our children.” The things we fight to obtain in this world mean nothing in eternity. The measure of success in this life fails miserably when held against God’s standard of obedience.
If the Word of God, the Sacrificial Lamb, the Voice that called stars into existence could willingly be placed in the feeding trough of farm animals, could we not endure a measure of hardship in this life? When God blesses us with abundance, let us not horde it as if our hiding could make it last.
Instead, let us give back the abundance to the God who provided it. Let us use what we have to bless others. The goal of this life is not to amass large quantities of things or comforts. Instead, let us strive to amass a crowd of souls who praise and bless the one who gave it all to save our souls