Scripture: Luke 2:1
In those days Caesar Augustus declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists.
Thought for the Day: To the ears of first century folks, these words were very interesting as Caesar Augustus was not just another leader among leaders. He was the one who had been sent to all people and their descendants as a savior. That language was found chiseled into an old building around the year 6BC. He was also described as restoring the world and bringing it toward perfection. And in that same chiseled description it explained how this human being had become god. Of course, Rome believed that it was the divine agent of peace in the world, but peace came about by military power that was very good at using fear and intimidation. That would be the backdrop for this opening line that would lead toward the story of a child who appeared to be from God. He too would be described as a Savior and the one who would restore the world, bringing it to perfection. The only real difference was found in the how. In fact, the how was everything. It was the humble and helpless infant born in a barn and placed in a feeding trough that would become the tool by which God communicated the divine purpose, along with the plan necessary to achieving that purpose. This is something Christianity has too often forgot.
Prayer: May I never forget the how of your revelation, O Gracious God. Allow me to see it and to utilize it as the model for my own life – the model of your presence taking on flesh and being born in a place that Caesar Augustus wouldn’t have been caught dead visiting. Yet this is where you chose to reside. Amen.
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FOR CHRISTMAS EVE
AT CYPRESS CREEK
