Worldwide Christmas December 23, 2025 Devotional

LUKE 2:4-7 | ⁴ Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵ He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.

The perfect Christmas is the perfect dinner, and the perfect tree, with perfect presents at the perfect prices, when the family is in the perfect mood and makes perfect conversation, following the perfect Christmas Eve service that includes the perfect sermon and perfect choir anthem. The perfect Christmas requires weeks of planning, intensive preparation, serious spending, and a suspension of everything ordinary, ugly, divisive, and unresolved. In other words, the perfect Christmas is a fantasy and a departure from reality!

The first Christmas, by contrast, was not so perfect. A long, tiring journey by donkey for Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem, well after the doctor recommended date for travel. No room at the inn. A birth in an unsanitary stable among strangers and foreigners, without any family to share the moment. Then a fast run to Egypt to avoid the murder of the newborn child, without passports or reservations.

Do you dream of the perfect Christmas?

What makes Christmas beautiful for you?

Gracious God,

The perfect Savior came into an imperfect world. Give me patience to see Your salvation when life is hard or uncertain.

Amen.