It all seems so commercial. The things, the gifts the rush. Technology, people glued to the screen on their phone, watching reels, stories and the funny videos of “Porch Pirates” getting their due. It’s easy to get caught up in it, I do and after a little while of scrolling I think, “what a waste of time,” I get up and do something productive. It can be a poor use of time and it can distract us from the things that matter; the thing that we should be paying attention to…
This time of year when we think of the Christmas story, we remember the story of Joseph taking Mary to Bethlehem for the census. She is with child. We see the manage scenes of the adoring parents and the beautiful baby. We think of the birth of a child as such a happy time and no doubt it was, but consider the circumstances. After Joseph proposed to Mary, he found out that she was expecting a child that he knew was not his. During that time, she could have been stoned. Joseph didn’t want to embarrass her so he considered waiting until after the baby had been born and then he would quietly divorce her, so as not to embarrass her, until an angel come to him in a dream and instruct him no to be afraid to take Mary as his wife as she was with child from the Holy Spirit and the baby would save men. Consider the faith Joseph must also have had, like Mary. Life was harsh during biblical times. Those in power had their thumb over the people who often lived in fear. Doing the right thing could put your family in danger or harming yourself. People adhered to the laws of the time and strongly lived by the Ten Commandments. Those who did not experienced social and physical consequences. Making a life and living was hard work and there was little time for idle trivial behavior. Little time to pay attention to things that didn’t matter…
It was a different time period. Women had little freedoms, rights or opportunity for education. Children minded their parents and spent little time gong from childhood/pre-teens to adulthood. Correct, people didn’t live as long so young adults ‘got the show on the road,’ there was no time for a ‘gap decade’ to live footloose and fancy free to find themselves. Life was tough but people may have lived more intentionally in some ways. Sometimes it is easy to look at past times with a lens of today. Every thing in life is a trade off. Life was more simple and there were less distractions but there were less conveniences, less opportunities for the average person and those in power had tight control over the common man and woman. The distraction of life can be just that, distractions from the things that matter.The glitz and commercialism of the season can distract us from the Reasons for the Season, if we are not careful. On the other hand, the music, time spent reading the Bible texts of the Christmas story and the Old Testament passages that foretold of Jesus’s birth, can inspire us to learn more, read more and inquire more of the life of Jesus and lead us to living a more Christ centered life…
One could find similarities of unrest politically with leaders jockeying for power between Biblical times and now. Consider the evilness of Herod who had all the baby boys born in the two years after Jesus’s birth killed. Imagine the horror of that. Herod was an evil ruler who went to extremes to hang on to his power, even killing his own sons. We see those in power today going to what we would consider today’s extremes. We see the hate and jealousy not just in the realm of politics but in business, society, athletics and in small communities; people going to extremes to get what they want and be who they want, at any cost. Times change but human nature does not…
The people who lived in the time of Jesus’s birth needed a Savior and we do too. The harshness of life, can be a heavy yoke to carry. Jesus came to take away the sin and death of life on earth. The cruelty and then and now has no sting. The tragedies and hardships that drag us down in this life are part of the journey here. Trials and tribulations were promised in The Bible during our life on earth. Refer to your Bible and see what tyrannies those Apostles and friends of Jesus endured. They were jailed harassed, tortured and martyred for spreading the Good News Jesus came to bring us, forgiveness and life everlasting. These early Christian soldiers suffered gladly for their cause. Learn about what they and others who followed, experienced. I am grateful for their suffering so that the message is available for us all today.
The hardships, ailments and difficulties in life we endure can bring us down or they can be a test of our character. Christmas reminds us that the baby who was born to Mary and Joseph came to earth to save us, offering forgiveness for those who repent and everlasting life, the greatest gift of all. This is what matters now and always. One does not need to wait for Advent and the Christmas season to celebrate the Good News. It can be celebrated everyday. Clinging to the things that matter and not to the things that don’t can lead to an eternity of great days. That’s worth paying attention to ❤️
