Luke 2: 8-20

UNICEF estimates that around 370,000 babies are born worldwide every day. Birth is a common, everyday event. Because of this, most people are more concerned with politics, taxes, sports, and the economy than they are with the birth of a child.

History shows us how easily we miss what is truly important. For example, in 1809, the world was focused on Napoleon Bonaparte. He was a conqueror and emperor who made France the most powerful nation in Europe. Yet, while the world watched the battlefields, few people noticed the babies being born that year—babies who would change the world in much deeper ways.

In 1809, William Gladstone was born; he became one of England’s greatest Prime Ministers. Charles Darwin was born that same year. In a rough log cabin in Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln was born.

This reminds us of another baby born 2,000 years ago. At that time, Emperor Augustus ordered a census across the Roman Empire. He was the most powerful man in the world, the founder of an empire. While the world was focused on great leaders and big events, no one noticed a baby born in a tiny town called Bethlehem. To the world, it was just another quiet night.