Father, we’re so thankful for Jesus whose infant birth took place in a smelly stable and whose bed was a feeding trough padded with stubbly straw and hay. It was certainly not a welcome setting for the infant born King but we can now see the stable as a composite of this unwelcoming world toward King Jesus. We’re so glad that He was willing to come to earth though He would be rejected by the majority. Yet we gratefully number among the many who receive Him as our personal Savior. We thank You that He came to deliver us from our fears and to release us from our sins. Through Your own eternal Spirit rule in our hearts today and raise us to Your glorious throne on Your appointed day. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.