Growing up, we didn’t celebrate Epiphany in our church although I had aunts and uncles whose churches did. We were aware, though, January 6th was the date for remembering arrival of the wise men to worship the Child Jesus. Other than that, we didn’t keep all the Christmas décor out that long.
At one time we had an Asian pastor and wife
who kept their Christmas decorations out until after Chinese New Year.
When we
lived in Appalachia, many folk there set up and decorated their Christmas tree
November 1st and took them down by December 26th.
I guess you can say our experiences living in different locations and varied cultures introduced us to several timetables in regard to the whens of Christmas.
For us?
Mostly we struggle to get a tree up and all the rest by mid-December, and I
admit—I’m ready to put it away by Christmas. I mean, hey, it’s been up a whole
2–3 weeks! (I do hold on until the others in our household are ready though.)
One of our most special Christmas “somethings” is an olive wood nativity
set my parents gave us for our 1st Christmas as a married couple. When
I pack it away, I make sure each piece has some type of protection around it
just in case there’s an earthquake, the house collapses, or a disaster happens
but never has. And I’m especially careful to wrap the Infant Jesus with his
animal-feeding-trough bed so He will be ready for next year when we again
remember this is all about Him.
Then it’s
time to put away Jesus.
Put away Jesus? Is that what I do when I pack Him amongst our other
Christmas decor?
I’ve
thought a lot about this for some reason—perhaps more than in previous years.
In the
weeks leading up to this holy time, I’ve answered the so-are-you-ready-for-Christmas
question the same. “Yes,” I smile and say, “because I have Jesus in my life, so
it’s always Christmas!”
But do I
live like Jesus is foremost in the hundreds of days moving forward?
There are
times I fail to treasure the Gift of Him. The Gift of all He’s done for me. The
Gift of being able to commune with Him whenever I need to or just desire to do
so. The soaking in of His Word.
Jesus—the
olive-wood, tiny-infant Him—is now neatly packed and shelved along with His
mother, stepfather, an angel, shepherds, sheep, an ox, a donkey, and wise men
(who, by the way, never arrive at our nativity in the 2–3 weeks we have Jesus
unpacked, being they come from the east and take much longer to get there).
May I
remind myself every day of this coming year to keep Jesus—Redeemer of the world
but also my personal Savior—foremost in my thoughts, decisions, prayers,
reading of His Word…
…and may I
remember to introduce Him to a world full of people who’ve packed Him away or may
not have even invited Him to His Birthday Party at all.
My prayer
for you, dear reader? That you will remember Jesus every day of 2026!
All Year Long sung by Larnelle
Harris
#Christmas #Epiphany #Jesus #nativity #decorations
#newyear #hope
Photo
Credit: Infant Jesus—Etsy, 2026
calendar—free-calendar.su
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