THE PROMISE OF BETHLEHEM

"Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'"  (Matthew 1:23 NLT)

The moment Mary touched God’s face is the moment God made His case: there is no place He will not go. If He is willing to be born in a barnyard, then expect Him to be at work anywhere -- bars, bedrooms, boardrooms, and brothels. No place is too common. No person is too hardened. No distance is too far. There is no person He cannot reach. There is no limit to His love. When Christ was born, so was our hope.

I think we need Christmas more than ever this year. We could use a season that is dedicated to giving, not receiving; to caring, not critiquing. Put away our differences. Put up the Christmas tree. Take comfort in the familiar story and the ancient carols. Our world, like that of Bethlehem, is difficult and crowded. Our days can feel as cold and uncertain as that midnight manger. Yet, in the midst of it all, let’s do what Mary did. Let’s invite the source of peace to enter our world. Let’s find hope, once more, in the infant King.

God became one of us so we could become one with Him. That is the promise of Bethlehem. 

-- Max Lucado, excerpted from an article entitled “Do We Really Need Christmas This Year?”

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