This is a familiar scene for many people. It’s almost impossible to walk through the piles of gift wrapping, empty boxes, coffee cups, and spilled juice glasses… it’s a mess. Later after everyone has eaten there’s the pile of dirty dishes. You are exhausted from this Merry Christmas. Now that everyone has gone you sit there thinking… is it the sweet memories, the laughter, the tears of joy or do your thoughts drift to the mess and the cost of it all?

If your thoughts drift to the mess, think again. Not only was the King of Kings born is a stable, but He also had a feed trough for a cradle. And get this, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had to leave town in the night to escape King Herod. We read in Matthew 2:13, “When they had gone (the wise men), an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

Don’t overlook the importance of this verse because it points to one crystal clear Principle of God, Almighty God has been, is and will forever be, In Control! If you don’t read and study, the scripture you will not know this. As we read further in Matthew 2:16-17, 18, “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

We learn further from this story that evil is always present in this world. And as a result, innocent people will suffer. We also see God’s promise, found throughout the Bible in the way the Holy Spirit lead the family out of danger, “I Am with you wherever you go….” But was this an isolated event? Was it only for Jesus?

I find it incredible that 33 years after this, the very one who received the protection and guiding hand of God, guaranteed, with His life, this same power to His followers. In Matthew 28:20 we find not only the guarantee of “the power” but our job as His followers. This is not just a good sounding phrase but a command from the King of Kings. “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

What will you choose to do with your time in 2026? Who will you trust & obey?

Merry Christmas