Candlelight Christmas Eve

When a king visits a city, he doesn’t stay at a modest inn; he lodges in a grand palace or a luxurious hotel. His visit is usually marked by meetings with other powerful leaders, not with ordinary citizens. So, when we think about the arrival of the Son of God on Earth, what should we expect? Not the lavish display we might imagine for such an occasion. Instead, Jesus is born into the humblest of circumstances—far from power, in a place of poverty, with no earthly grandeur. His first visitors were not nobles or rulers, but humble shepherds.

Because God put heaven’s best gift in earth’s unlikeliest place, there will always be room at the manger for you. You will not need to stand in line, wait your turn, or prove yourself worthy first. Instead, you can know with certainty that God gave this gift—and all the gifts he brought with him— “to you.”