Scripture
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Observation
The Roman Emperor Augustus issues a decree that a census is to be taken. Everyone has to return to their ancestral home to register.

Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem where Jesus is born. The baby is wrapped in strips of cloth and placed in a manger.

That night angels appear to some shepherds in fields nearby. They announce the birth of the Saviour and tell them where to find him. The shepherds hurry off to see this baby.

Everyone who hears the shepherds' testimony is astonished.

Application
Here is a remarkable thing. An emperor in a far distant land issues an edict for a census. A humble couple from a nowhere place in an unimportant corner of the Empire obey the edict, having a baby in the town where they are required to register. God uses this unremarkable even to fulfil an ages old prophecy.

The Emperor thinks he is in control, yet it is God who is directing events.

The shepherds, on hearing the news from the angels, have to pass by the massive fortress built by King Herod in order to worship another king.

The power of God is not seen in the glory and might of political and military powers.

Each day we have to decide in our hearts who we will believe is the Lord of our lives. Will I follow the ways of the world and heed the biggest, glitziest most powerful leaders? Will I choose to believe that God has revealed Himself as a weak and vulnerable baby in a humble cattle stall?

Prayer
Today Lord I choose to believe that you are Lord. Today I will follow in your ways. Amen.