On The Move

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oday is the 17th of December and, in case you are wondering, there are now only 8 days left until the big day which means you only have 7 days to make your final preparations.

At this time of year, people are in constant motion, running here and there with greater fervor and focus than at any other time of the year.  That seems to be the mantra of almost anyone to whom you speak.  “I gotta go” or “I’ve got to get all this shopping done” or better yet, “Where has the time gone?”

For the next several days we will be taking a journey through the first 20 verses of Luke 2.  We will take a look at the shepherds, the wise men, and all the circumstances regarding our Lord’s birth and the purpose for his coming to earth.  So, let’s get started.  I invite you to open your Bible and join me with the opening verse of Luke 2.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  You want to talk about movement?  The entire known world was in flux with people packing up all they had to report to their various destinations to be counted and recorded.  What a time that must have been when everyone, and I mean everyone, was going somewhere with no time to spare. 

Joseph and Mary pack up and head to Bethlehem to comply with Caesar’s demand that entire world be recorded.  What lesson are we to learn from this brief passage?  What could God have possibly packed into these 19 words that will help us today?  A lot.

In life, we are seldom in control of our circumstances. Things happen, events occur, and unforeseen situations rear their ugly heads at the most inopportune times.  It was the same with Joseph and Mary.  The day before Caesar’s decree, everything was normal; but the next morning, their world changed.  Joseph had to take his very pregnant wife from their home to the town of Bethlehem to register his family.

Joseph, in all likelihood, was not thrilled about traveling in the first place and he was most certainly concerned about Mary who was due to give birth very soon.  But the circumstances of life dictated that he go to Bethlehem and to Bethlehem he went.

Here is our lesson for today.  God is in control of our circumstances.  We may not understand the events surrounding us and we may not comprehend why we have to move when it would be easier to stay put. But had Abraham never moved there would have been no Isaac.  Had Moses not been moved, there would have been no Exodus.  Had David not moved into the valley, there would have been no victory over Goliath.   We could go on and on but the lesson is the same.  In order for God to bless us and use us, he sometimes will require that we move, leaving everything behind, heading toward a destination and events we do not know or fully understand.  Whatever the circumstance, to receive God’s best, we must move.

And so, we leave Mary and Joseph on the road to Bethlehem, traveling over a rocky road, in the dry and arid climate, on their way to fulfill God’s promise that he would send a deliverer to save mankind. Does God have you on the move today?  If so, get ready for him to do great things both in you and through you