Gift Exchange

It was Christmas Eve in Washington, D.C., and a group of young tourists from all parts of the country were being guided through one of the city’s historic Churches. The Church choir director happened to be there, preparing the Christmas music program and, in the Christmas spirit, he volunteered to lead the young tourists in some caroling. The first two songs went well. But as the improvised choir began the third, the choir director looked troubled. Something had gone wrong. “It didn’t sound quite right,” he said, “but I finally located the source of the problem. One of the carolers, a young woman from the deep South, had been singing, ‘Ol lil’ ol’ town of Bethlehem’.”

Suppose God had given us the job of arranging His journey into this world! Would we have chosen the “Little Town of Bethlehem” for His birthplace? How would we have gone about working out the details? I have no doubt that we would have formed a committee and…