After the Christmas is Gone

Christmas is gone. At least for 2021, and our lives are returning to their routines. The decorated trees are coming down. The remnants of holiday memories are pushed to the curb. Family has come, given hugs, and headed back home. All the plans and preparations we made in the last couple of weeks have happened and now we face the reality of life after Christmas. We are forced to acknowledge that life simply goes on.

It occurs to me that the family of Jesus was faced with the same dilemma. The night of Jesus birth had been a wonderful experience for everyone. Angels had sung. Kings had arrived bearing gifts. Lowly shepherd had run into town to admire and worship the child. A bright star had guided travelers right to the place where Jesus, Mary and Joseph were. There was so much activity around the manger that it was a wonder that anyone had time for anything.

And then they were gone. The angels departed. The wisemen went home. The Shepherds ventured back into the hills to their flocks. Mary and Joseph and the baby were there, by themselves with little more than memories.

I wonder if Mary and Joseph weren’t tempted to try and recapture these wonderful moments. They might have wished that every night could be a night of angels and song and fanfare. They might have wondered why the spirit of love and adoration could just keep going and going twenty-four hours each day, 365 days a week.

But it didn’t. Life went on.

How do you and I survive the next 363 days until Christmas comes again? We do exactly what the first family did. We take the child with us. Mary and Joseph ventured out from the stable into the real world carrying the baby as they made their way. As Joseph found a decent home in Nazareth. As Mary began to care and feed and clothe the child. As the son of a carpenter grew. They went back to their daily routines, but with one huge difference. This time Jesus was present. Every moment. Every hour. Jesus was a part of their world. The Bible tells us that Jesus “grew is wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).

So, my prayer for us today is a simple one. That you and I will simply take Jesus with us wherever 2022 takes us. Life goes on. But the presence of Jesus has the power to change everything.