(Luke
2:7)  And she brought forth her firstborn
son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because
there was no room for them in the inn.

Everyone
knew what a manger was and it was no place for a king. Everyone knew what
swaddling clothes were and that they were unfit garb for the Lord of glory. Nor
should he have been relegated to a barn.

But
they just didn’t understand and we are still having a hard time “getting it.”

“Away in a manger, no crib for a bed.”

This
is His poverty, His willing emptying of Himself, His lowliness and love to
identify with the least and the lost among us.

No
crib –  no bed – no amenities – no
sanitized conditions – just a trough where the livestock were fed, just rough
clothes to cover Him and keep Him somewhat warm. He became as the lowliest
among us.

“The little Lord Jesus lay down His
sweet head.”

He
was there, helpless and sweet, all God and all man, emptied of all the riches
and prerogatives that were rightfully His, poor and needy like us. Who couldn’t
love such a baby? Who wouldn’t?

“The stars in the sky looked down
where He lay.”

No
one standing by would have known how all of creation that night was subject to
that little bundle of new life. Humanity has no capacity to  notice when millions of angels bow and
worship. And yet, it was happening all around them.

“The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the
hay.”

God
grant that we not miss Him lying there. May we not overlook Him, take Him for
granted, or minimize His importance. He is so easily discarded and disregarded,
but He cannot be ultimately ignored.  May
your heart today become His manger, your flesh, His swaddling clothes, and your
heart like the stars in the sky that bow before Him