(from last time)
The big, mean camel looked at the Professor and there was fire in his eyes! The Professor said, “Let’s get out of here!” The Professor, Shane and Shelly ran to the bicycle/time machine and Shelly turned the crank. They jumped on the time machine and began pedaling as fast as they could! The camel charged at the Professor! The Professor said, “Ooops!” The camel ran faster and came alongside the Professor and opened his mouth and bared his teeth! Just as the camel was about to bite the Professor, the Professor shifted the bicycle/time machine into high gear
Then it happened… The bicycle began bouncing like a toad in a washing machine! There was a blinding flash of light and a loud noise like a turtle singing! Suddenly the camel disappeared and….
They were headed towards a set of nice furniture with a sign that said, ‘For Sale – New Custom Furniture made by Joseph’. Shane slammed on the brakes of the bicycle/time machine and they skidded to a stop! The Professor flew over the handlebars and landed with a crash on the furniture! Broken and splintered pieces of wood flew in all directions! A man came running out of the house behind the furniture and yelled, “Why are you breaking all my good furniture?” The Professor said, “Ooops!” Shelly quickly turned the crank so they could escape if the man tried to attack the Professor. Before anyone could say anything else, a woman came out of the house and said, “Joseph, I see the mailman coming up the street, you need to hurry!” Without another word, Joseph ran to the big house down the street and pounded on the door. A man opened the door and shoved out a dog on a leash, Joseph grabbed the leash and ran with the dog back to his house. Joseph and the dog arrived about a half minute before the mailman got there, and the dog shattered the peaceful morning by barking as loud as he could at that mailman!
After the mailman had left, Shelly asked Joseph, “Why did you do that?” Joseph answered, “Business has been so bad, and we are so poor that I can’t afford to even own a dog. I don’t want people to know how poor we are, so I rent a dog to bark at the mailman.” Joseph looked at the pile of smashed furniture and sadly said, “I was hoping that someone would buy all this furniture, we need the money. Tomorrow is market day, and a lot of people will be coming into town to shop, I’ll have to stay up all night and repair the furniture.” Joseph then turned to the Professor and said, “Forgive my anger please, why don’t all of you come into the house and you can meet my wife and she will give us some refreshing water to drink.”
They went into the house and Joseph introduced all of them to his wife Mary. Shane whispered to Shelly, “Look at the size of Mary’s tummy, do you think she might be going to have a baby?” Shelly whispered back, “Of course she is going to have a baby, and probably very soon. I think this is Joseph and Mary the earthly parents of Jesus.” Shane whispered, “Are we in Bethlehem? Where is the stable?” Shelly answered, “No, I think we are in Nazareth, they haven’t gone to Bethlehem yet.” Just then the Professor said to Joseph, “Since it is almost Christmas time, could you carve me a Nativity Set?” Joseph got a blank look on his face and asked, “What is Christmas, and what is a Nativity Set?” Shelly interrupted and said, “Professor, Jesus hasn’t been born yet, so there isn’t a holiday named Christmas, and there are no Nativity Sets yet.” Joseph asked, “How do you know about Jesus, I thought only Mary and I knew the name that the angel told us to give the baby?” Shelly didn’t know what to say, but right at that moment Mary interrupted and urgently said, “Joseph, we just got an important notice in the mail. The Emperor Caesar Augustus just made a decree that everyone in the empire needs to be counted!” Joseph grumbled, “Oh great, every time they count the people, they raise the taxes. This is not good news!” Mary said, “There’s more in this letter, it also says that we have to travel to our family’s hometown to be counted! We are both descendants of the great King David, so they expect us to go to his hometown…Bethlehem! It also says that if we have to travel more than 50 miles, we can take a: horse, mule, donkey, camel, ostrich, or a pontoon boat!” Joseph said, “I know someone who will loan us a pontoon boat, but how many horses will we need to pull it over the mountains and through the desert?” Mary said, “A donkey is small enough so that I could actually get on it, but it will be so uncomfortable to ride it all the way to Bethlehem. I am so ‘great with child’ that I can hardly move, and I can never get comfortable!” Joseph looked sad and said, “We are so poor I can not even afford to buy a donkey.” The Professor said, “I noticed a ‘Rent-A-Donkey’ place just down the street, why don’t you rent a donkey to take to Bethlehem?”
Joseph took the Professor’s advice and went to the ‘Rent-A-Donkey’ right away. Joseph had no money, but the man at the rental center needed some firewood. So, Joseph traded all the furniture that the Professor broke for a rental donkey. Joseph and Mary were going to pack and leave the Bethlehem the very next morning. Mary felt an urgency to get to Bethlehem as soon as possible, she almost felt like she had an appointment in Bethlehem!
Meanwhile the Professor decided to get to know the donkey. He tickled the donkey’s ears. The donkey shook his head and his halter broke! The donkey was free! The Professor said, “Ooops!” The donkey began to run, and the Professor began to chase him! The donkey jumped over a ditch! The Professor tried to jump over the ditch but of course he tripped and landed in a puddle in the bottom of the ditch. The Professor sat up with mud dripping off his face and then he heard someone calling his name! Shane, Shelly (and her kitten) were coming down the street on the bicycle/time machine. Shane was in the Professor’s seat, but he yelled, “Get on the back-seat Professor, we will use the bicycle to catch that donkey!” The donkey had a head start, but the bicycle/time machine was gaining on him! They went out of town and up the steep hill at the edge of town! Shane shifted to low gear so that they could climb the hill easier. At the top of the hill, they were right behind the donkey! Shane looked over his shoulder and yelled, “We will catch him now!” Right in front of them was the edge of a cliff, and the donkey turned left! Shane did not see the cliff because he was looking over his shoulder. Shelly screamed, “Look out!” The bicycle/time machine went over the edge of the cliff and plunged toward the valley below. The Professor said, “Ooops!” Just before they crashed into the ground below, Shane shifted the bicycle/time machine into high gear.
Then it happened… The bicycle began bouncing like a toad in a washing machine! There was a blinding flash of light and a loud noise like a turtle singing! Suddenly the cliff and the valley disappeared and….
Application:
God always has a plan!
God’s plan was that His Son (Jesus) would take on humanity and be born as a human (but still be God). This is what the holiday of Christmas is all about, remembering and celebrating the birth of the Son of God.
God planned that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem
God told us ahead of time that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.
In the Bible in the book of Micah chapter 5 verse 2 it says, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.”
This seemed in impossible because Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth and that was a long way from Bethlehem. Also, Mary was about to have a baby and would not want to do any traveling in that condition. But God made the Emperor of the Roman Empire (the most powerful man in the world) decide to count the people make them all go back to their family’s hometown to be counted. This forced Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem just in time for Jesus to be born there.
God has a plan for your life:
God has had a plan for your life since before you were even born.
In the Bible in the book of Psalms chapter 139 verses 16-18 it says, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”
In the Bible in the book of Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11 it says, “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’”
God loves you and will do whatever it takes to fulfill His good plans for your life! Take time to talk to God today and give your life to Him!