Boxing Day has been going on for centuries. It seems to have begun in England. British servants who had toiled extra hard for their lords and ladies all Christmas day were given gift boxes and the following day off in return.
Today in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, this day has become a madhouse day of bargain shopping, returns, and mayhem. What was once a day to bless the lower class has become a day of self-serving greed and materialism. Fights at the checkout lines give the term ‘boxing day’ a whole new meaning!
Too often over the holidays the gloves come out for other reasons too. The convergence of seldom seen family members, the stress to find the perfect gift, roast the ideal turkey, decorate, mail cards, trim tree, plan airport trips, accommodations and gift deliveries all mount and tempers flare.
What a ridiculous mess we’ve made of it!
Did you ever wonder what occurred on the original boxing day, the day after the first Christmas, the day Jesus was just one day old?
We know that Levitical law required “A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days… On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised.” (Lev. 12:2,3) For Mary this would be a welcome interlude, a time of rest and recovery, a time to ponder further all that the shepherds had reported about the angelic pronouncement and the praising host that had appeared to them in the fields… (see Luke 2.19), a time to ponder the unfolding miracle before the journey to Jerusalem to circumcise the babe….. the Son of God!
What a good practice this could be for us as well. Seven days to ponder what the birth of this Child means personally. Seven days to do as He says, to “Be still, and know that I am God” to exalt Him among the nations, to exalt Him in the earth. (Ps. 46:10).
Take off those gloves, raise your arms in surrender, let the Peace of God replace the pace of the world.
Press on…
thebrokenrunner 