Let us not think of the babe in the manger as merely a static scene, as if a million miles and a zillion years away from our jaded, faith-challenged world. The swaddled One—and the heaven that heralded His birth—is much nearer to us today than we think.
Heaven and earth are no wider apart today than when shepherds listened to the angels' song. Humanity is still as much the object of heaven's solicitude as when common men of common occupations met angels at noonday, and talked with the heavenly messengers in the vineyards and the fields. To us in the common walks of life, heaven may be very near. ...
The story of Bethlehem is an exhaustless theme. In it is hidden "the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God." Rom. 11:33. We marvel at the Saviour's sacrifice in exchanging the throne of heaven for the manger, and the companionship of adoring angels for the beasts of the stall. Human pride and self-sufficiency stand rebuked in His presence. (—Ellen White)
Let us not shrink from the rebuke His presence brings to our human pride and self-sufficiency—it can only do us good.