I collect nativity sets.  I love them and decorate all around the house with them.  A few years back I started picking up pieces whenever we went to a foreign country. This started while traveling through the Middle East.  I collected camels from each country to put in front of a nativity scene I had at home.  Now I just look for nativity scenes or ornaments from each country.  It is common for the country to have scenes with people who look like the natives of the country it is from.

Some have the stable made of wood and straw, others made of pottery.  The real stable was probably a cave.  In Bethlehem today, there is a church over the spot believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.  They have placed marble over the soil and a star marks the spot.

But that night there was a rock for a roof above and dirt for a floor.  The King of the Universe entered mankind in a setting fit for sheep and cattle.  They laid his head where animals ate.

Due to the census being taken, the rooms at the Inn were full.  There was no room for the Messiah that Israel so anxiously awaited. Do you ever think about the manager of that Inn?  I have been trying to decide if he was a good guy who saw a pregnant woman and even though every thing was full he tried to find her a place with a roof over her head.  Or was he a money grubber who was renting out every inch of property he had.

We think how sad.  The Innkeeper put Jesus in the barn.  He didn’t give him the best.  That Innkeeper had no way of knowing the Lord of the Universe would be born that night. But we know he came into the world.  He taught us right from wrong and how we should live.  Then He allowed Himself to be crucified for our sins so we might be reconciled with God.  We know he deserves the palace.  So why do we so often give Him the left overs.

Prayer: Forgive me for not giving you my best, for squeezing you in.

Meditation: Do I just giving Christ the remains in regard to time, passions, money?  Do I give Him the best or just the stable?

Action:  Look at my Todo list each day.  Give God that time when I am at my best.