And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. – Luke 2:7

Life is hard. One of the many reasons that I believe the Bible is because, when man sinned in Genesis 3, it says one of the consequences was, “in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground” (Genesis 3:19). Eating was easy up to that point; all they had to do was simply eat from any tree that was available in the garden. I imagine they were abundant. Now that sin had entered in, if you want to eat, well . . . go to work!

In this little verse of the Christmas story, it was finally time to deliver Jesus. Imagine how hard the journey was until it was finally time to deliver Jesus. All the stress of traveling, finding a place to stay, and wondering how in the world all this was going to play out. It was a long journey. It was a hard journey. It was an uncomfortable journey. Mary was great with child . . . you know she wanted rest.

I’ve been alive exactly 49.5 years. It has been a lot of toil and a lot of strife. I worked for seven years at a golf course, 17 years at the school I graduated from, and have now been working 10 and a half years at an alternative school. I’m so thankful that God gifts us with ways to earn a living, but like He said in Genesis, if you want to eat, you’re going to work, and you’re going to earn it.

I feel like sitting here on Christmas morning a bit like Mary. She survived the journey. She delivered the Lord and Savior of the World. She saw the face of God and held Him in her arms. This has been a tough year. A lot of it has been because of my own selfishness, but it feels like I just grinded through this year and didn’t take nearly enough time to simply slow down and enjoy my time here and enjoy walking with God. Much like I’m doing now, I sat with God a lot, but then I got up and just plowed through my day. I forgot to invite the Lord to be with me as I pushed the plow.

On the last day of school, none of my riders rode the bus, so I thought to ask Jesus to ride with me . . . that was a sweet ride! It reminded me that, next year, I want to remember to enjoy my work, to ask Him to be with me in the midst of it all. I have so few years left to work. I have so few years left on this planet. I went to visit my Granny yesterday. She only made it to 53. I was in the 10th grade when she left this world. I thought, “What if I only had 3 and a half more years to live?” What would I do different? I think I would spend a lot more time just drawing nearer to the Lord. I would spend the time learning to enjoy Him here before I left to enjoy Him there forever.

If nothing else, for right here, right now, as I wait for my family to get up and tear open gifts, I have the Lord’s presence. He is right here with me in as tangible of a way as I’ve ever known. Oh, how I want to love Him, serve Him, and have Him at the very center of my life. It has been a tough year, but the days were accomplished and now He is here.

Lord, I feel like most of the year that I have simply gone through the motions of being a Christian. I have dutifully read Your word. I’m sorry that too often I’ve looked at it as work. But this morning, I really enjoyed it. I didn’t have to read this morning, I wanted to. Most of all, I enjoyed it because I feel like You just sat with me. Your love filled this room, and I pray that I am conscious of it for the rest of the year, for all of 2025, and for the rest of my life. You came that I might have life, and not just plain life, but abundant life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit and lead me in the way everlasting. Merry Christmas, Lord!