My Observations About the Christmas Story

So in  honor of Christmas I thought I would include some of my observations about the Christmas story...

• Mary was 14 years old, a virgin, and pledged to an older man. When she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit you can imagine some issues with parents and her betrothed. I can tell you I did not have enough faith at 14 to have handled all that as gracefully as she did. But she had faith.

• Joseph always amazes me. He could have publicly humiliated her but that didn't cross his mind he was going to walk away quietly. But after the angels came to him he too had faith. 

• I cannot imagine being pregnant. But I certainly cannot imagine being pregnant and riding on a donkey. Again Mary had faith.

• Shepherds were considered to be low in society at that time. They were not people you would invite to your home let alone the birth of your child. And yet God felt they too needed to be part of the birth. It takes all kinds.

• The Three Wise Men took risks to find the baby Jesus and keep him hidden from Harrod. They too had faith.

• The inn keeper always tweaks me a little bit because I feel like he could have done more for them. And yet I realize that there was a point to Jesus being born in a lowly manger. Here was the King of Kings being born in a feeding trough. God always has a plan we may just not understand it at the time.

This time of year I think it is easy to get lost in the details of presents and trees and parties, etc. But I wanted to take a moment and share some observations I've had over the years about the Christmas story.

What are your observations?