Christmas Journey

A tyrant’s unabated appetite for power gnaws at his ego. Though his armies have subdued many nations, there are still more worlds to conquer. If he is to feed his power hunger pangs, he’ll need to replenish his coffers. Thus, a new tax law is hastily inked and issued to all his subjects.

When the edict reaches Nazareth, the Galilean outpost where a carpenter ekes out a living, it’s not welcome news. Not only does the law demand a hefty levy of hard-earned shekels that Joseph and his bride could use with the imminent birth of her baby, but it requires travel to Bethlehem, their ancestral home, to be registered for a census. For Mary, the adolescent mom-to-be approaching her due date, this trip was no vacation. It was at least a week’s long, arduous trek over rough terrain with countless risks. And upon arrival in Bethlehem, they were forced to shelter in a stable, where Mary labored that night to deliver the promised Son of God into the world.

By all appearances, Caesar ruled the world, and his self-aggrandizing law brought untold hardships to Mary. However, Caesar’s authority was only a sham. There is another King whose reign far exceeds that of this earthly autocrat. Caesar was a mere pawn in the hand of the true Monarch. Caesar’s lust for power was a tool used for a much higher purpose. The census was only an instrument to get Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem where the Scriptural promises would be fulfilled.

Perhaps your life’s journey has been somewhat like Mary’s. Maybe you too have been forced to go places that you would not have chosen. Perhaps you questioned God’s timing or even God’s sovereignty at allowing people or circumstances to put on a road you never dreamed you’d go down. Like Mary, God may be using your journey for a greater purpose. Perhaps God has taken you from your Nazareth to get you to your Bethlehem, the place where after a laborious night of the soul you too discover, as Mary did, that God delivers on all his promises.

Thank you, God, that even though my life journey has not always been easy, you have a plan and purpose for every part of it. Thank you for the exhilarating mountaintop experiences you’ve allowed me to have. But thank you also for the deep valleys I’ve walked through and for the trust I learned in them.

Throughout this Day: Sometimes we get as much from the journey as we do from the destination. How can God use even the hardships you’ve endured along the road from your Nazareth to your Bethlehem for his glory?