Bethlehem – stop and remember it!
Micah 5:2
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you,
one whose origins are from the distant past.
We take a pause now from our study in Daniel as we prepare our hearts for Christmas Eve this coming Wednesday, beginning at 6:00pm.
The beauty and wonder of Christmas causes us to pause, to stop, and celebrate the miraculous birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, in Bethlehem. God stepped into our world as a child, taking upon Himself the physical form of humanity.
With all the glitter, expense, and sparkle of Christmas today, it stands in stark contrast to the reality of our Lord’s birth—born in a cave, laid among animals, while travellers from across the land made their way to Bethlehem for the census called by Caesar Augustus.
For many, Christmas is fast, furious, and exhausting, with the day spent in a whirlwind of eating, visiting, and opening gifts.
I have always loved our Christmas Eve service. Usually, it is late when we finally head home after cleaning, tidying, and locking up Church once everyone has gone. Helen will again head to the kitchen, and I will quietly find my chair and stop.
In those quiet moments, as the night grows darker and the hours grow later, my mind often returns to Bethlehem—to seeing the very cave where Christ was born, and to the Shepherds’ Field, where angels proclaimed to a group of lowly shepherds that the Saviour had come and was lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling cloths.
There is nothing grand about Bethlehem, nor about the cave itself. Yet it was in this small, seemingly insignificant town that God chose to enter the world—and later, it would be for our sins that He would die.
Christmas demands a pause—a halt—a moment to reflect and give thanks. To remember that He came for us… for me… and for you.
There is always a tear shed at that time for what happened at Bethlehem. I pray you do not miss the wonder of Christmas – join with us this Christmas Eve and pause, stop…and let us thank God together!