lystn

Luke 2:16 NLT

'They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.'

In the heart of the busyness of Christmas, when can you have 15 minutes to take time with God in personal reflection today? If you are on your own over Christmas, then time will perhaps be more of a curse than a blessing, since you can feel more isolated and alone than at any time of the year.

Christmas Day itself is a day when, like the shepherds, we are urged to hurry off to find Mary, Joseph and the new-born child, Jesus. But where are we to hurry? In our household, quite some years ago, when my daughter was small and my mum and dad invariably stayed, it was a challenge to create an appropriate space to welcome Jesus. There was certainly plenty of hurrying in search of presents, yet it was all too easy for Jesus to be ignored on his own birthday. But we always hurried to the breakfast table, eagerly anticipating the day ahead, and paused to light a candle and sing ‘Happy birthday’ to Jesus, with a birthday cake.

My dad’s birthday also happened to be on 25th December, and one year when we brought out Dad’s birthday cake at teatime and sang him ‘Happy birthday’, our daughter climbed onto Grandpa's knee and, grasping his face in both her little hands, said in a hushed whisper, “Grandpa. I never knew you were Jesus!”

Just as the shepherds returned from greeting their King, so our 15 minutes of reflection is best centred on worship. It’s a wonderful opportunity to reflect on how we are beneficiaries of God’s grace; a moment to thank God for the incarnation, for all we know of God is revealed through Jesus’ time on the earth; and finally, to praise God for all we have discovered of friendship with him so far, and to offer a short prayer committing to go deeper with God throughout the year ahead.

QUESTION: How has God helped you in the past year, and what challenges do you see in the year ahead?

PRAYER: Holy God, I am so grateful for your grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. Thank you.