A Christ-Centered Christmas Doesn't Have to Be HardSample

Chronicles of Christmas

The biblical Christmas story has all the makings of an epic tale: anticipation, wonder, excitement, danger, and of course, miracles!

Although we can read about the birth of Jesus year-after-year, the story can impact us in different ways, depending on what’s going on in our lives at the time.

How is that possible?

All scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and the Word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12).

Each year in preparation for the holiday season, I revisit the chronicles of Christmas found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. I have found that immersing myself in these remarkable narratives helps me remember, reflect, and re-align my heart with Jesus.

As a young mom, I wanted to make the Christmas season special for our family, like my mom had done for me and my siblings. But after a while, my desire to engage in the holiday hustle and bustle turned to dread. I felt a great deal of pressure to fit all the holiday happenings into that short window of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was exhausting.

Perhaps you can relate.

Peace and goodwill toward men should be the resounding theme of Christmas; yet, for me, somehow the most wonderful time of year had become the most stressful. Christmas was slowly becoming more commercial and less spiritual. I tried to keep Jesus at the center, but the superficial Christmas to-do list ended up demanding more and more of my attention. Eventually, I felt a deficit in my spirit and knew that changes needed to be made.

I decided it was time to jump off the Christmas crazy-train. I started making small, intentional adjustments to my holiday routines, purging activities that were creating more stress and less joy. For example:

• Rather than sending out Christmas cards once a year, I became more intentional by spending quality time with family and friends the whole year through.
• I reduced the number of decorations in our home to just a few reminders of the season. If my husband and I wanted to see more lights or decorations, we took a drive around town or scheduled community festivities.
• If I didn’t feel like baking, I didn’t. The world kept spinning whether I made Christmas cookies or not.

I started looking for Jesus in the everyday moments of the season. In time, the wonder and joy of Christmas returned.

God keeps showing me that stories have a way of unlocking the mind to spiritual truths and principles. Jesus knew this to be true, which is why He often spoke in parables.

The intention of this devotion plan is to help you connect with God during the busiest and most wonderful time of the year through relatable stories and biblical truths. Fixing our eyes on Jesus (the Author and Perfecter of our faith) let us throw off anything that steals our joy so we can treasure the greatest gift of all—Jesus. He is the reason for the season.

Each devotion will include the following:

• Life-Application Story
• Personal Reflection
• Prayer
• Scriptures

Let’s get started!