Hello, this is pastor gary from first baptist church of laplata. I read yesterday that Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, is experiencing devastating economic hardships due to the pandemic. Hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops are suffering due to the lack of tourists. Bethlehem’s grandest hotel is closed and padlocked. Even so, the Church of the Nativity is built over the supposed actual spot of Jesus’ birth—a cave known as the “Grotto of the Nativity.” The church was originally built in 330AD but was mostly destroyed in 529AD; it was rebuilt in 614AD as the structure that exists today. I have not been to Bethlehem, but I understand that to visit the very spot where Jesus was born requires one to bend over to enter and remain that way to stay. This is appropriate, because bending over is a sign of humility; one must humble himself to visit the birthplace of the King of kings and Lord of lords just as one must humble himself to be born again by the same King of kings and Lord of lords. Humility is an essential Christian attitude; after all, humility was practiced by the Savior, is taught by the Scripture, and is characterized by the saints. Christmas Day may be behind us, but let us continue celebrating the incarnation, and let us humble ourselves before the One Who humbled Himself that we might be saved.
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