What If I Had Been There?

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,

and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths

and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Luke 2:6-7 (NIV)





I often wonder what my life would have been like had I lived in another era. This is what I think of when I think of my life at the time of Jesus’ birth.



If I had been in Bethlehem at the time Jesus was born, would I have paid Him honor? Would I have noticed the star shining so bright? Would my family have gotten the last room available?

Would my husband have been the innkeeper who offered the weary travelers the cave behind the inn?

Would my husband and our son have been among the shepherds that heard the angel’s announcement?

Or would my family have been one of those who were unable to find any place to sleep except the in doorways, in the yards, or along the city streets?

On the other hand, would my family have disbelieved what they saw and heard and ignored the event? Would we have shrugged our shoulders and said, “Oh, well “? Or would we have visited out of curiosity and then said things to discourage our neighbors from worshipping the newborn King?

Or might my family have happened upon the shepherds and listened to their story of the angel, the angel chorus, and about finding the baby born a Savior?

Whoever was in Bethlehem on that night so long ago was very much a part of God’s plan.