Luke 2:3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Can you imagine the uproar if everyone had to go back to their birthplace to get taxed and accounted for?

How many planes would be needed to ferry the people back and forth so they could all spend Christmas at the place of their birth?

I can’t imagine they were too pleased back when Jesus was born either; but they obeyed the rules of the kings.

Do we have that sort of respect for authority nowadays? Do we have that sort of respect for God?

Ezekiel 18:27 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive

How often do you realise you are about to do something wrong and yet still go ahead with it, thinking that it will be OK?

God wants us to stop and think about what we are doing and then to turn away from those evil things. If we know they are not good then we need to stop them before they take over our life!

We all do struggle at times, but God is good and wants to help us overcome those times; but we need to ask for the help and not just expect Him to do it all.

Luke 15:1 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.

Can you imagine the uproar at this first sight? Here is Jesus, the Messiah who came for the people of Israel, allowing all the people they rejected to come to Him!

We get jealous or upset when our enemies come to be with our friends just as the people of Israel were getting upset here… why?

Because we judge other people and think they are not worthy of our love and support!

Jesus was perfectly right to judge, but took time for people to be given a chance before He would judge. How much time do we take before judging?