Luke 2:1-7 (NIV)
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be
taken of the entire Roman world.
2
(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was
governor of Syria.)
3 And everyone
went to his own town to register.
4
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to
Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line
of David.
5 He went there to register
with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
6 While they were there, the time
came for the baby to be born,
7 and
she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him
in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Matthew 18:1-5 (NIV)
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
2 He called a little child and had him stand among them.
3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian
Department of Education to teach morals and ethics (based on biblical
principles) in the public schools. They were invited to teach at prisons,
businesses, the fire and police departments and a large orphanage. About 100
boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a
government‑run program were in the orphanage. They related the following story
in their own words:
It was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear,
for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary
and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem.
Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus
was born and placed in a manger. Throughout
the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened.
Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word.
Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of
cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given a small paper square,
cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me. (No colored paper was available
in the city.) Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully
laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn‑out
nightgown an American lady was throwing away as she left Russia, were used for
the baby's blanket. A doll‑like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from
the United States. The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked
among them to see if they needed any help.
All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat_he looked
to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little
boy's manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger.
Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies
in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed
manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very
seriously. For such a young boy, who had
only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately until
he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Misha
started to ad‑lib.
He made up his own ending to the story as he said, "And when Maria
laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to
stay. I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don't have any place
to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn't,
because I didn't have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted
to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could
use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift.
So I asked Jesus, "If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough
gift" And Jesus told me, "If you keep me warm, that will be the best
gift anybody ever gave me." "So I got into the manger, and then Jesus
looked at me and he told me I could stay with him for always."
As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that
splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head
dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. The
little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone
who would stay with him - FOR ALWAYS.
I've learned that it's not what you have
in your life, but who you have in your life that counts.
Suffer the little children to come unto me, and
forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. (Mark 10:14)
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