Today is December 22, and all the trappings for Christmas have been displayed, hung and lighted for quite a while now. Not all of us celebrate Jesus’ birthday. More and more often I hear comments made by celebrities concerning this day. I wonder if they believe what they say, or if they have ever tried to learn the truth or just read the script. I heard one commentor say that Jesus was most likely not born in Bethleham as He was called a Nazarene, saying also this meant he came from the town of Nazareth. Guess they haven’t read about Herod having all boy babies under the age of two killed after the wise men came and how God sent Joseph into Egypt for a time to protect Jesus. And when Joseph brought his family back they settled in Nazareth. How many of us are living in the city of our birth? How about our parents or grandparents. I celebrate Christmas so I wish each of you a great Christmas. My prayer for each is that they have accepted the greatest gift of all, God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus, His son.

Are you like me and sometimes read a scripture and just pass it by without considering it?
In Mark 6:3 the Bible tells us that Mary and Jesus’ brothers and sisters went to the synagogue and wanted Jesus to come out. It names the brothers as James, Joses, Juda and Simon and refers to the sisters in the plural so there must have been at least two. Every wonder how they felt towards Jesus as they were growing up. Do you suppose they sometimes “tattled” to Mary and accused Jesus of something He had not done. He was the big brother and perfect. Suppose they ever felt they could never measure up to Him in their parents eyes. I also wonder if Mary and Joseph ever got weary and short with Jesus as well as their other children like parents, me included, sometimes do.