Daily Reading // Luke 2:1-7
READY // SILENCIO
Take a moment to quiet your mind and prepare your heart for your time with the Lord.
READ // LECTIO
Read the passage above up to threw times aloud. Allow yourself to feel the words as they are read.
REFLECT // MEDITATIO
Now direct your focus on the words, phrases concepts or sentences that got your attention. What is God speaking to you today through His word?
Luke 2:2-3 (NKJV) 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
Do people count, or do you count people?
This census was not the last one. People are counted and recounted and counted again. Why? It is not for the good of the people but for the good of the governing authority.
It is either for taxation purposes or for military strength.
King David got himself into trouble when he counted the people. God was not pleased and a plague broke out. He fell into the trap of seeing people as a commodity or an asset.
This is opposite of how God sees people. He doesn’t have to conduct a census because He knows every individual. He knows what makes each one unique. He knows everything about them.
In fact, every hair on their head are numbered. Just as God knows the sparrows He knows every person. And each one is far more valuable than many sparrows.
Unlike those who take a census, Jesus came to serve, not to be served. People are not the means to an end to God. They are the end. The end for His love and care.
God doesn’t count people. To God every person counts.
Do I see people by what they can do for me, or by how I can serve them?
RESPOND // ORATIO
Pray in response to what the Lord has spoken to you.
Father, thanks for Your love and care for me. You love me, not because of what I can do for You but for what You can do for me. Like the psalmist said, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, I cannot attain it!” Amen.