I thought I might do a little something, this year, that would help me focus on what this season is really about, and maybe it could help you, too. I’m going to take the story of Jesus’s birth, found in Luke 2, and go verse by verse, 1 through 24, to see what happens. Here we go…

And everyone went to their own town to register. ~ Luke 2:3 NIV

“Everyone went to their own town.” The big spiritual take away I get from this is that is sounds very Christmasy.

(If you’re interested, I’ll be teaching a course on exegesis  at a local seminary near you. You know, because of my mad theology skills. 😉 )

Seriously, though, they were all going home. Home to their own towns. Home to, very likely, stay with relatives and catch up and feast. And isn’t that Christmasy?

I love that God orchestrated the birth of His Son here on earth around an event that would require everyone to stop what they were doing and go back to the place of their own birth. While it was a requirement by law that got them there, I think it’s interesting that we’ve continued to celebrate the birth of the King of Kings by doing exactly the same thing year after year. We take a holy pause to reach our touchstone, to regroup and recenter, and while we are not counted for a census, we do miss those who are not there to be counted as part of our regular number.

A precedent was set on that cold desert eve, two thousand years ago, and like everything else God does, I know it wasn’t by accident. Count yourself blessed if you are part of a family gathering this season.

Count yourself blessed if you are going home.

When I think of the wisdom and scope of his plan, I fall down on my knees and pray to the Father of all the great family of God—some of them already in heaven and some down here on earth…~Ephesians 3:14-15 TLB