Devotional for Christmas Day

“Christmas Day is in our grasp, as long as we have hands to clasp! Christmas Day will always be, just as long, as we have we! Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart, and hand in hand!”

– Dr. Seuss

The Twelve Days of Christmas, December 25 - January 5, is a uniquely Christian understanding of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the early years of Jesus in Nazareth. During this season, we'll look at this well-loved, The Twelve Days of Christmas and allow it to carry us into the New Year! The origin of the song is not known. The earliest known version of the lyrics was published in London under the title "The Twelve Days of Christmas sung at King Pepin's Ball", as part of a 1780 children's book, Mirth without Mischief. It has become customary to give the presents Christian meanings although there is no evidence this was originally the case. To see the cost of the gifts mentioned in the song, visit the PNC Christmas Price Index at this link.

The First Day of Christmas my true love gave to me,                                      a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

Luke 2:1-7 (New Century Version) - At that time, Augustus Caesar sent an order that all people in the countries under Roman rule must list their names in a register. This was the first registration; it was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to their own towns to be registered. 

So Joseph left Nazareth, a town in Galilee, and went to the town of Bethlehem in Judea, known as the town of David. Joseph went there because he was from the family of David. Joseph registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was now pregnant. While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to have the baby, and she gave birth to her first son. Because there were no rooms left in the inn, she wrapped the baby with pieces of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough.