Back to Bethlehem

But you, Bethlehem… out of you shall come a Ruler. Matthew 2:6 [NKJV]

Even its pronunciation is musical—“Bethlehem.” The name itself sets the imagination aflame again, as we all experience the symphony of thoughts about this tiny, yet mightily historic site. Bethlehem was destined for significance by the Almighty God Himself. He whispered His intent to His prophets, and in our text we hear Micah quoted more than seven hundred years after he predicted Bethlehem would be the Messiah’s birthplace.
     It is a good thing to go there—at least in our imagination; and especially at Christmastime. The fact that God would interest Himself in so tiny a village, and ordain its place and high purpose in His plan of redemption, tells us something about God and His ways.
     He delights to take the ordinary and do the extraordinary there. He loves to take people like us and do wonderful things for them, to them, and through them. It is His mind and His pleasure to do great things at simple places, with plain people! Just as we sing, so let us act: “Come to Bethlehem and see!”
Hayford, Jack; and Middlebrook, Sam, Living the Spirit Filled Life, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1992.