Mangers are Messy

“She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.” (Luke 2:7)

I have a Nativity set that I put out every year for Christmas on a shelf at the top of my TV cabinet in our family room. A shelf that usually has family pictures and mementos on it. Stuff that I usually put away in a box or tuck away in a closet in order to display Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, Wise Men, the Angel and of course, Baby Jesus in a place of uncluttered prominence.

If your mind’s picture of the Nativity at all resembles mine, it is probably very neat. The hay is clean and the star is bright, Mary doesn’t look like she just had a baby and Joseph looks totally calm and collected. They never look like they just spent days – maybe weeks traveling to Bethlehem. They never look like they were desperately seeking shelter as the time to give birth approached. The scene is calm, tranquil, and very uncluttered.

She – Mary – laid him – Jesus – in a manger and mangers are messy places. Click To Tweet

This greeting card version of the Nativity plants seeds in our minds that Jesus came into calm, tranquil, and very uncluttered life so therefore, in order to properly celebrate and welcome Jesus at Christmas, we too need to get to where our lives are calm, tranquil, and uncluttered.

The manger teaches us something quite different. I’m blessed to share this in the Christian Community News magazine. I hope you’ll join us there and discover how Jesus comes into our messy.