Outcasts

"In Micah 5:2 it says “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, God inspired this man, Micah to pinpoint the very site where Jesus would be born. God didn’t chose the place of Rome (the political center of the day), or Athens (the intellectual center of the day), or Jerusalem (the religious center of the day), but He chose Bethlehem. Bethlehem: a small, unimportant, insignificant, isolated little community town located five miles outside of Jerusalem. Before Jesus was ever born, He knew His people would go to war against Him, that they would smite Him, refuse to respond to Him, and reject Him. Yet, He still came. You see, Jerusalem was where the action was. Bethlehem was simply where the shepherds hung out and in Jesus's day shepherds were considered outcasts. Aren’t you glad Jesus was born in a place where outcasts hang out, therefore, Jesus can be born in us. Thank God for the greatest gift to ever be given: God’s Son Jesus, so that we might have the gift of salvation, eternal life. For Jesus is the reason for the season. Praise His Holy Name!!!"