READING:
One-year plan: Micah 1-7, Nahum 1-3
Two-year plan: Jeremiah 38-39, Hebrews 3
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The village of Bethlehem was small, hardly comparing to the city of Jerusalem — and yet, that is where the Messiah would be born: “though you [Bethlehem Ephrathah] are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel” (Mic 5:2). This ruler would have ancient origins (indeed, the New Testament would reveal Him as eternal), and yet His kingdom was still to come. Only Jesus the Messiah could meet these specifications.
His earthly origins, though, would be as a baby in a borrowed stable in an unremarkable village. When the world was upside down — children would dishonor their parents, and “a man’s enemies are the members of his own household” (Mic 7:6) — God would step into that world in a most unimpressive way. That baby would later die on a borrowed cross and be buried in somebody else’s tomb, but He was the Messiah come to die for the sins of the world. Through His death, God “pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance” (Mic 7:18). Indeed, He treads our sins underfoot and hurls them into the depth of the sea (Mic 7:19).
A village. A baby. God in the obscure. The Creator stepping into a small and unexpected place. His lowering Himself to be born among the shepherds so that you and I might become His sheep.
Our God specializes in the small, the unknown, the insignificant, and the least. That’s a good thing, since all of us fit into those categories.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Do you think much about just how deeply God loves you?
PRAYER: “God, thank You for letting me be one of Your sheep.”
TOMORROW’S READING:
One-year plan: Habakkuk 1-3, Zephaniah 1-3
Two-year plan: Jeremiah 40-41, Hebrews 4:1-13
MEMORIZATION VERSE (September 16-30)
“For he is the living God, and he endures forever; his kingdom will never be destroyed, and his dominion has no end.” (Daniel 6:26)
