But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me One Who will be ruler over Israel, Whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.
Micah 5:2
700 years later, Joseph and Mary come to Bethlehem to fulfill that promise. God Incarnate, who chose to make His dwelling among us through this only begotten Son. In Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest, he says “His life is the highest, the Holiest entering in at the lowliest door. His birth was an advent/coming.”
As we enter this last week of Advent, we should be putting the finishing touches of preparation to our hearts and homes for the Lord’s coming. As Chambers so beautifully puts it, “Just as our Lord came into human history from outside/heaven so He must come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a Bethlehem for the Son of God?” Is Jesus in my heart? Do I have a saving faith and if so does the Lord Jesus have His rightful place in my thoughts and affections? Does this love of God loom before me as I see that for which He destined His Son, the redemption of mankind? Do we bask in this unhindered sweet fellowship with the God of heaven and earth? It is He who poured all of His wrath on His Son – towards all the sin committed past, present and future – so we could have the privilege of knowing Him intimately. We were made for God, to know Him and worship Him with all of our hearts. To the degree that we live with an abiding sense of His love for us in Christ, to that degree will we love God with all our heart, soul and mind (2 Cor. 5:14).
As you read the Christmas story, may you be reminded that your heart is a “Bethlehem” for the Son of God. Don’t let anything squeeze this one true pearl, one true bread, one true drink of the Lord Jesus Christ that forever satisfies (Ps 27:40).
