The winters in Judea are cold and dark, and on the cusp of the millennium of Christ some 2,000 years ago, the people of the City of David, called Bethlehem, spent most of their time indoors, protected by their warm fires. The livelihood of many of these Judean families was entangled in the wool of sheep, a commodity entirely adverse to the rigors of such a cold winter. Like their masters, the sheep of ancient Bethlehem spent the frigid winter days and nights sheltered, holed up in barricaded caves, called sheepfolds, which the shepherds cut into the limestone slopes surrounding the city. Here the sheep were fed grains and dried grasses until the spring sun warmly invited new blades of grass to rise from the rich soil. Continue reading “Look Upon Him: A Christmas Devotional” →