Woohoo, Christmas Day is upon us! A time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and to bring good cheer to friends and family. A time for presents, and of course to decorate and light up the Christmas tree.
I write this post in between moments of time as Mary and I and our visiting family friend Christine from Brisbane, Australia prepare the ingredients for tomorrow's feasts.
A 9:00am morning breakfast with some of the people we share our complex of 14 units with, later a 1:00pm church service at Miramar about 5-10 minutes taxi ride from our place, followed by our church family luncheon, then back home by 5:00pm for our family and friends again in time for our dinner meal at another unit.
Earlier this evening Mary and I were listening to the radio, tuned to a Pacific Islands news and music station. A visiting pastor from the island nation of Niue, a self-governing territory of New Zealand, was giving the lesson. His theme was taken from the Gospel of Luke, about the birth of Jesus.
"While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them." - Luke 2:6-7 (NIV).
He suggested that we are all so busy preparing for our Christmas time together with family and friends that we forget about the reason why we celebrate this festive season. He said something like this: "Do you have room in your life for Jesus", born in a manger as there was no room at the inn.
At this time of year, for those of us who are Christians, we need to remember to make room for our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
A very busy schedule planned for us on Christmas Day, with a very early start before 6:00am to begin the cook. No matter how busy you are, please also take time out to worship and share the blessings.
Merry Chrismas from Wellington, New Zealand.
Ian Ballantine
Wellington, New Zealand
December 24, 2019.
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