Christmas traffic is here! And not everyone is considerate as they attempt to get from one place to another. Horns and music blare. People and noise are everywhere! It sometimes seems that stress rules the day as we plan to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Some days, I could use a little silence.

I love the Christmas hymn “Silent Night”, but I know that first Christmas probably wasn’t silent either. 

We try to make Christmas Hallmark perfect – perfect pajamas, perfect decorations, perfect family, perfect food, perfect music. You get the perfect picture.

The glory of Christ’s coming, though, lies in the reality that this world is not perfect, and neither are we.

Busy, harried people
struggling to pay taxes,
looking for shelter,
worried for family.

(Sounds like life today, doesn’t it? I think we would have fit right in to life in Bethlehem.)

Jesus didn’t come on a perfect night to a perfect place.

He came to parents who had struggled with their relationship.

He came to a young mother learning to trust God with the impossible.

He came to a stable, to unwashed shepherds, and to an innkeeper trying to make a living.

Jesus came into the everyday of fallen humanity,

and He said,

“Let me show you how much My Father loves you”.

John 1: ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Romans 5: ⁸ But God commendeth (showed and proved) his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Father,

Thank You for sending Jesus. Thank You for loving me so much that You were willing to have Your Son dwell on this Earth. Thank You for His sacrifice. Thank You for Your love which was so evidenced in Jesus. This Christmas, I want You to know that I love You. Help me stop in the middle of the muddle and spend some time with You.