An unusual Christmas

I am a person who likes traditions and routines. I find I do things "because I've always done them" and it feels strange not to do them. But this year is an unusual Christmas because not only have I been sick for the last few weeks, but Christmas, the day our family usually spends eating breakfast together and giving gifts to each other, falls on a Sunday. So, we had to change it up a bit.

This morning I was thinking about the first Christmas and how unusual that day was. I'm sure Mary and Joseph did not relish the thought of travel at a time when she was about to give birth. In fact, nothing about that day was usual. Despite the prediction foretold Scripture, the people still had a hard time accepting the unusual way God brought the Messiah into the world.

Scripture tells us:

"Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15

Perhaps God has allowed our routine, or our tradition to be shaken up a bit, so we will stop and reflect on what is important. Our church's theme this Christmas is "Keep Christ at the Center of Christmas." Is He center? Or are my plans center? The scripture above tells us that we do not know what will happen tomorrow. Our acceptance to what He has allowed is the only way to a peace-filled, Christ-centered Christmas.