“When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’”
—Luke 2:15 NTV

When Jesus was born, angels announced the news to shepherds tending their flocks nearby.

They didn’t appear to the high and mighty but to laborers in a field.

Perhaps it would have made more sense to announce the birth of God in the flesh to “important” people like the religious and political elite, and yet God chose marginal, non-influential people as the first to be in the know.

The Imperfect Nativity reminds us that God loves to bypass the powerful and include ordinary people in his plans.

People like you and me.

And that’s good news.

Here’s a simple prayer to carry with you today:

Breathe in: God of ordinary people,
Breathe out: Use me in your story.