The Joys of Christmas

Celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas

Does joy end when the clock strikes midnight, closing out Christmas Day? Tim Butler’s new twelve days of Christmas devotional booklet the Joys of Christmas, which is our Christmas gift to you, invites us to embark on a journey to “store up” Christmas joy well beyond December 25. Following the Medieval meditative list known as the Joys of Mary, often encountered through the carol of the same name, we will explore a total of thirteen “joys” that all of us can experience from the life of Jesus. The following is an excerpt and you can download the rest for free in PDF form. A Kindle or print copy is also available inexpensively on Amazon.

“And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you!’ But dshe was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.’” — Luke 1:28-29 (ESV)

Gabriel’s appearance to Mary is, to say the least, unexpected. Mary had plans for her life, but being the mother of God’s Son was decidedly not amongst them. God’s plan came crashing in the way of her plans — with the announcement came the brief collapse of her engagement to Joseph.

When God calls us to follow Him in an unexpected way, it is common for that new route to collide with our hoped for next steps in life. We had a very nice plan – thank you very much – and our natural first reaction to a huge change, much less a difficult, huge change is not “joy.” The question we face in those moments is, “Can I take joy in the detour?” Too often, the answer not only starts as a “no,” but becomes a more and more deeply entrenched “absolutely not.” When my attitude descends there, I fight against and flee from where God wants me to be and the prospect of finding joy dims further and further.

Mary, with the Holy Spirit’s help, instead rejoices in the unexpected rerouting and, in that, experiences the first joy of encountering Jesus. Before He was even born, she readily submitted to God’s will and anticipated the wonder of what he would do.

Christmas is a wonderful time for us to ask where God might be moving us towards accepting a different direction. He didn’t ask Mary to do it alone and He doesn’t ask us to either: for Christmas is the reminder of just how far God will go to walk with us.

Prayer: Lord, a lot of times my situations seem too much for me to bear, even if they are much easier in comparison to Mary’s when Gabriel appeared to her. When everything feels too much and I don’t know how I’ll ever move forward with what you want me to do, help me to be ready to say that I am your servant all the same. Help me to trust that you will work beyond what I could ever do on my own. For I know you will. I pray this in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.

Download the rest of the devotional booklet, covering the full Twelve Days of Christmas right here. You can also check out the companion video, below.

Timothy R. Butler is Editor-in-Chief of Open for Business. He also serves as a pastor at Little Hills Church and FaithTree Christian Fellowship.