No matter how you choose to celebrate Christ this season, let the Messiah–not the mayhem–reign in your heart. May you be richly blessed in Him!

Read: Luke 2:1—4

1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.

Reflect: We must stop and consider all that God was orchestrating. It was necessary for Joseph and Mary to travel to Bethlehem and have the baby there because it would fulfill the prophecy from Micah 5:2. God is continuously at work on your behalf and the Lord is over all (Colossians 1:15). Let this truth sink in! Just as God prompted Caesar Augustus to conduct a census, so He prompts us to act in accordance to His will.

Respond: Supreme God, how mind-blowing it is to consider all You do. Thank You for threading me into Your beautiful fabric of salvation and using me as an instrument to help prepare and ready others. I’m so glad I’m an heir to the line of Christ.

Tot Time: It was roughly 100 miles from Nazareth (where Mary and Joseph were from) to Bethlehem (where they were traveling to). Back then, there were no trains, planes, or cars. This could’ve been a scary trip for Mary and Joseph because it would’ve taken 8—10 days to make the journey. Ask your children these questions: “Do you ever get scared? What are ways to be brave and carry forward, even when you’re afraid? What do you think Mary and Joseph did on their journey to keep going?”