Journey to Bethlehem
Journey to Bethlehem…a night to be remembered.
Last night our whole family and some other people from the T.C. went to a church that was putting on a little Christmas pageant/interactive walk-through. It was really an amazing experience! Basically, what the church does is takes you for a walk through some woods while acting out what it would be like to travel to Bethlehem on that special Christmas night, so very long ago.
When you first get there you receive a Hebrew name, (I was Judith which means, “The Praise of the Lord”), and then you wait for your “tour guide” to lead you through the whole experience. To get to the path, we rode an “iron camel” (a.k.a. a tractor and trailer) and then we started our walk. We experienced everything from angels to Zealots, we saw Mary’s parents, Joseph’s parents, shepherds, the wise men, King Herod, the busy market place, and we even had a run-in with some Roman soldiers. Every time we came across some of the soldiers we had to show them our “papers” (the papers with our Hebrew names) and if you lost your paper you get thrown into the dungeon (thankfully that did not happen to any of us), but my advice to you is never, never, never, EVER fold your “papers” because if you do then the soldiers will make you stand in front of everyone, stand on one leg, then hop up and down on the other leg, hop up and down on one leg while spinning in circles, and then either walk backwards for a while or say the Alphabet backwards from “X” to “I”. (and yes, I do speak from experience *grin*…I chose the backward walk) At the end of our journey we wound up in a stable with Joseph and Mary and their baby boy…Jesus. The whole thing was a great reminder of what is was really like to live back in those times and what it was like for Mary and Joseph to leave their home and go to Bethlehem.
I was thinking, a lot of the time people just see the Bible as something of old, something that happened a long time ago and something that doesn’t pertain to the “now” of life. But it does…the Bible is still very alive and active today and many of the things that happened back then to people happen now, but in a more modern way. I mean, take a look at Mary and Joseph. They had to take a long journey to get to their destination and we also have many long, hard journeys that we have to make in life. Just as Mary and Joseph trusted God to help them and be with them along the way, we also need to trust God and believe that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
Another thing is, sometimes, when we get to our destination things don’t always turn out like we want them too or like we think they will. Joseph and Mary ended up in a STABLE of all places! I’m pretty sure that Mary hadn’t planned to give birth to the Prince of Peace, our Emmanuel, in a stable that was filled with animals. Just like Mary and Joseph, and like with my family, when you follow God you can end up in places you could never have imagined and, you know what, most times those places are the best because you are exactly where God wants you to be, following His perfect plan, and in His ever-loving hands. There is no better place to be.
So this Christmas, remember what was done for you. Remember Jesus, the Heavenly Child, and that His sole purpose in life was to grow up glorifying God and then, in the end, He was the the Ultimate Sacrifice and He died for you. He could have called the whole thing off and just forgot about you, but no…He loved you so much that He came to earth to save you. He was and is the greatest Gift of all. Remember that.
Love to all,