There are a couple weeks left until Christmas and most of us are in a rush to get everything done. Decorating, shopping, wrapping, baking, hosting and attending parties, end of the year wrap-up at work, getting ready for 2026, rushing just seems to be inevitable at this time of year.
In Luke 2, Mary and Joseph are in Bethlehem at a busy time because of a decree issued by Caesar Augustus requiring everyone to register in their ancestral home for a census. The town was overcrowded with many other people also fulfilling the decree, leading to Joseph and Mary having to settle for lodging in a stable, where Jesus would be born. The four day trip (at least) from Nazareth, with Mary on a donkey wouldn’t have been rushed as she was due at any moment.
“And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” ( Luke 2:6-7) A very humble beginning for our Savior.
We know our Heavenly Father is the author of every story and the Creator of time eternal, but also our temporary time on earth. Scripture reminds us, “When the time is right, I the Lord will make it happen,” Isaiah 60:22 and in Ecclesiastes 3:1 “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
Sometimes our daily tasks seem overwhelming and we wish for more hours in the day. Time just flies, as the saying goes. It doesn’t matter if you are a mom raising children and running a home, the Lead Pastor of a large church, or performing any of a thousand occupations . . . Time is something we try to control, often run out of, and is so valuable. We can ask God for the ability to manage our time wisely.
“God’s Minute” by Dr. Benjamin Mays emphasizes the importance of making the most of every moment of life:
“I have only just a minute, only sixty seconds in it. Forced upon me, can’t refuse it. Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it. But it’s up to me to use it. I will suffer if I lose it. Give an account if I abuse it. Just a tiny little minute, but eternities are wrapped up in it.”
Not every minute is meant to be rushed through though. Sometimes the most important minutes are when we hit the pause button, and sit in God’s presence just listening, and praying. Jesus was born to provide us with that special time and with each other.
Deb Hill
EFCC Member